5 teams who should be calling Mike D’Antoni right now

1. Indiana Pacers

Right on the heels of their surprise firing of Nate McMillan, D’Antoni was a reported candidate for the Pacers job. He would of course command a top-of-the-market salary, which might be a thing for some teams looking to hire a new coach. But the soft one-year contract extension the Pacers gave McMillan, two weeks before firing him, should not be a huge financial impediment to hiring a new coach of some note.

McMillan drew ire for his offensive scheme, right or wrong as he operated without Victor Oladipo for big chunks of the last two seasons and with two of his best players being big guys (Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis). But on the whole, the Pacers do need to evolve their offense, after coming in last in 3-point attempts per game this season (28.0 per game). The Rockets are of course on the other end of the spectrum, as their analytical approach has made them the most 3-point-heavy team in the league (for better or occasionally worse).

D’Antoni would be the No. 1 guy to drive a new, modern offensive approach, and now he’s officially available. The Pacers should have already reached out to him as I’m writing this, or they are doing it wrong unless they already unofficially have their guy that’s not D’Antoni. That latter part feels unlikely though.