New Orleans Pelicans lead assistant Chris Finch is considered the frontrunner for the Indiana Pacers’ coaching vacancy, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.
Finch, 50, has been an assistant with the Pelicans since 2017. He was the associate head coach of the Denver Nuggets the year before that, and an assistant with the Houston Rockets from 2011-16. Finch also served as head coach of the G-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2009-11).
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard has been conducting a thorough coaching search that began back in late August, when the team parted ways with Nate McMillan.
Other names linked to the job and considered serious candidates — former Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, former NBA point guard Chauncey Billups, current San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, current Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Brown and former Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs coach Dave Joerger.
Along with those names, Miami Heat assistants Dan Craig and Chris Quinn are scheduled to interview with the Pacers with this week, according to Chris Hernandez of Miami Heat Beat.
“We’ve seen some of the hirings over the last few years, and they’re coming from all over the board,” Pritchard said in August. “The way I’ve set up this process is, we want to start with a big pool then get down smaller and smaller. I don’t want to rule that out. If there’s an existing coach who has experience, who knows how to build a program, but maybe has a little mark or has something he needs to improve on.
“… I believe this, that the head coach is critically important, but nowadays, that second, third and fourth coach almost are more important. So how they build out their structure and their coaching staff is critical.”
