Trail Blazers name McMillan new coach

McMillan will be formally introduced as the club’s 11th coach in franchise history at a 7:30 p.m. (et) press conference on Thursday.

He replaces interim coach Kevin Pritchard, who took over for the fired Maurice Cheeks during the middle of the season.

The 40-year-old McMillan joins the Trail Blazers after serving as Seattle’s head coach since November 27, 2000. This past season McMillan guided the Sonics to a 52-20 record, which included a Northwest Division championship. Seattle advanced to the Western Conference semifinals before losing in six games to the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

"We are feeling a mixture of pride in his accomplishments as the head coach of the Sonics and sorrow that he will not be a part of our organization going forward," Sonics president Wally Walker said in a statement. "The pride stems from seeing his evolution in becoming a head coach less than five years ago to becoming a candidate for Coach of the Year this past year. He will be missed."

However, despite the success, his four-year contract was up at season’s end after the team did not re-sign him during the year.

"Our last compensation discussion detailed a proposal that on average would have made Nate one of the five highest paid active NBA coaches," Walker added. "While we made him a fair offer, we in no way begrudge Nate’s ability to earn more than we could offer."

In his four years with the club, he has compiled a regular-season record of 212-183, while going 8-8 in the postseason. McMillan’s departure comes one day after the Sonics reportedly agreed to terms on a five-year, $85 million contract extension with Ray Allen.

Under McMillan’s leadership, Seattle reached the playoffs on two occasions, as it also appeared in the postseason in 2001-02. During that season, McMillan’s first full campaign as the team’s head coach, the Sonics went 45-37 and earned the seventh seed in the playoffs, where they lost to San Antonio in five games.

McMillan spent his entire 12-year playing career in the Emerald City. In 796 career games as a player, McMillan averaged 5.9 points, 6.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per contest.