Pacers Join 76ers in Head Coach Market After Firing Nate McMillan

The Philadelphia 76ers aren't the only Eastern Conference team to do away with their head coach this week. After the firing of Brett Brown on Monday, the Indiana Pacers followed the same road as the Sixers as they've announced they are moving on from their head coach Nate McMillan after four seasons.

Heading into the 2019-2020 NBA Playoffs, the Sixers and the Pacers were neck and neck in the Eastern Conference bracket. Ultimately, Indiana finished with the better record, which placed them right in front of the Sixers as the fifth seed. Unfortunately for the Pacers, they didn't finish much better than the Sixers.

Just like Philly, the shorthanded Pacers ended up failing to pick up a single win in the first round of the playoffs and got swept by the Miami Heat. After further review, Indiana decided it's time for a fresh start and has decided to move on from McMillan.

"On behalf of the Simon family and the Pacers organization, I'd like to thank Nate for his years with the team," Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. "This was a very hard decision for us to make, but we feel it's in the best interest of the organization to move in a different direction. Nate and I have been through the good times and the bad times, and it was an honor to work with him."

Just like that, the Sixers have more competition in the coaches market. So far, only one candidate has been linked to Indiana, which happens to be Houston Rockets head coach, Mike D'Antoni. While it doesn't seem the Sixers and the Pacers are in any competition for similar candidates at the moment, that will likely change soon as interview processes will begin to take place shortly.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_