The Pacers confirmed the decision Monday after Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported Saturday that the Pacers and McMillan were finalizing a deal. Wojnarowski, citing league sources, reported that McMillan signed a three-year contract with no options in the deal.

McMillan has been on the Pacers staff since July 2013, working as an assistant to former head coach Frank Vogel. Before that, he spent five years in Seattle and seven years in Portland, compiling a 478-452 overall record. His teams made five trips to the playoffs, but only once did he reach the second round.

ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton hoped the 51-year-old would get another shot to lead an NBA team:

Kevin Pelton @kpelton

About time Nate McMillan's name got mentioned. He's got a better resume than a lot of trendy candidates.

While McMillan's teams won an average of 43 games during his 10 full seasons in charge, his track record raises some doubt as to whether he can replicate that in today's NBA.

For one, McMillan was a strict disciplinarian, to the extent that he forbade his Sonics players from wearing headbands. In Portland, his style rankled a number of veteran players, most notably Andre Miller and Zach Randolph.

While using a firm hand helped LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy develop as players, it might have led to McMillan's downfall with the Blazers. Then-team president Larry Miller highlighted the problem following the coach's departure in 2012, per Ben Golliver for CBSSports.com:

I think [McMillan] had lost some of the players. I think he lost the ability to motivate the players and go out and give 100 percent. To me, that was the issue. We could see that players weren't playing with the energy level and enthusiasm and weren't going out there and giving it their all. We would expect them to play that way when they're playing Blazers basketball.

McMillan's strategic approach may not enthrall fans, either. The Sonics averaged 89.3 possessions per 48 minutes in his five seasons, per Basketball-Reference.com's play index. The Blazers were even slower, averaging 88.2 possessions.

That makes him an interesting hire for the Pacers, whose strategy last year was to increase their tempo to improve their offensive efficiency with Paul George and Monta Ellis leading the charge.

It didn't exactly work, as the Pacers finished 17th in points per game and 25th in offensive efficiency, per Basketball-Reference.

B/R's Sean Highkin was puzzled by the Pacers' choice of head coach:

Sean Highkin @highkin

Bird talks about wanting to play faster and score more points and then hires...Nate McMillan?

Not every team needs to follow the Golden State Warriors' blueprint, and slowing the game to a crawl might be the best way to combat the continued emphasis of pace throughout the league. But McMillan will need to deliver immediate success to show his style can work, and even that isn't enough to ensure he won't quickly wear out his welcome.

No team knows McMillan better than the Pacers, given his work on the coaching staff for the past three seasons, so the front office may be looking to return to the style that led them to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2013 and 2014.

There's little chance McMillan will be a complete flop in his new job. During his first 11 seasons as a head coach, his teams won fewer than 32 games on only one occasion.

The Pacers have won at least 42 games in four of the last five seasons, with 2014-15 being the outlier, as George missed most of the year recovering from a broken leg.

The pieces are in place for Indiana to be a top contender in the Eastern Conference. McMillan is an odd choice based on what the team wanted to do last year, but his strong track record could instill the kind of confidence in his players that leads to a postseason run.