Indiana Pacers Finalize Coaching Staff For The 2020-21 Season

With free agency and games officially scheduled to begin in under a month, the Indiana Pacers have finalized their coaching staff ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Just over three weeks ago, the organization named Nate Bjorkgren the new Head Coach. What comes with any coaching change is alterations to the assistant coaching staff, and Indiana’s transition from one coach to the next is no different.

The Pacers announced on Friday the three assistants that will complete Bjorkgren’s staff this season. The team brought in Kaleb Canales and Greg Foster from other teams while retaining assistant coach Bill Bayno. Just like last season, the team will carry just three assistants through the season.

Bayno has been with the Pacers since 2016, when then coach Nate McMillan hired Bayno to fill out his bench. “I worked with Bill in Portland, was impressed with him then and always hoped I would have a chance to work with him again.” McMillan said then.

Now, Bayno will move up the bench to a role with more responsibilities. Per J Michael of the Indianapolis Star, Bjorkgren’s staff’s responsibilities will be dynamic and change throughout the season instead of focusing on one specific aspect of the game, so Bayno will acquire even more experience in his new role. Bayno worked out with Pacers guard Aaron Holiday and center Domantas Sabonis in Los Angeles this offseason.

When Bayno entered the NBA in 2005, it was now-Pacers President Kevin Pritchard who gave him a chance on the Portland Trail Blazers coaching staff.

A similar story is the case for a different new Pacers assistant. Kaleb Canales, 42, was hired by Portland in 2005 as a video intern. He slowly worked his way up through the organization, ultimately being named the team’s interim Head Coach in 2012 after the firing of, ironically, Nate McMillan.

Canales then went to on to be an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks, where he was slotted into an offensive coordinator-like role. “I have no doubt that [players] are going to play extremely hard, and they’re going to play the right way for him,” Pritchard said of Canales back in 2012.

The final addition to Bjorkgren’s staff is Greg Foster, who comes to Indiana from the Atlanta Hawks. Prior to his stop in Atlanta, Foster was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers (2013-14) and Milwaukee Bucks (2014-2018).

Foster played in the NBA for 13 seasons prior to his coaching career. He won a championship in 2001 with the Los Angeles Lakers and, for a brief stint in the 2002 preseason, was a member of the Indiana Pacers. His playing experience should help him communicate well with players, something that Kevin Pritchard mentioned as a priority in terms of qualities he wanted in any incoming coaches.

Foster was the Head Coach of the Hawks summer league team in 2019. The Hawks went 2-3 in five games with Foster at the helm. “[Foster] was one of the first people I reached out to when I got the job in Atlanta to join my staff,” Atlanta Head Coach Lloyd Pierce said of Foster. “He’s proven himself to be an up and coming coach.”

In tandem with incoming coaches is outgoing coaches. Canales and Foster replace former Pacers assistants Dan Burke and Popeye Jones, who both took assistant coaching roles with the Philadelphia 76ers. Burke and Jones combined for 29 years of assistant coaching experience with Indiana, so the new assistant staff has big shoes to fill.

With the coaching staff filled out, the Pacers can turn their attention to the roster. Trades, the draft, and free agency will all take place this coming week, so the 2020-21 team will be formed soon. It is up to the new coaching staff to get the roster on the same page and continue the growth the Pacers have shown in recent seasons.