Who will become the Phoenix Suns’ new head coach?

Who will become the Phoenix Suns’ new head coach?

The Phoenix Suns have completed interviews in person with Shan Sweeney, Jordan, Johnny Bryant, and Chris Quinn. Dave Bliss, because they’re still in the playoffs, they have not done an in-person interview, but he is still among the finalists. So, the Suns have completed in-person interviews with the final candidates. Sean Sweeney, Jordan, Johnny Bryant, Chris Quinn. The only one um that hasn’t happened yet in person is Dave Bliss. Okay. So, will they wait for him? And I they’re going to speak to him. Okay. I I apologize for asking questions that you don’t know the answer. Again, it might it might not be able be able to be an in person or they might have to go to him. I don’t have a I don’t have a full answer for you, but um he is still under he is still under consideration. When did the NBA finals start? I’m looking it up. Sorry, I didn’t. Now I’m asking you a question. The Knicks are going to win in seven. So Nick Knicks are going to go beat Indiana in Indiana. Let’s go. A week from yesterday. So So in theory, if the Suns wanted to go to Dave Blair, I’m not saying he doesn’t have anything better to do, but he does have a little downtime before the NBA finals begin, right? Right. Like he’s got six days. So I I it there’s there’s an opportunity. And I I don’t I’m not booking the Phoenix Suns travel here, so to make it sound like it’s easy, but I’m sure Matt Ishpia owns a fleet of private planes and they could get to Oklahoma City if they wanted to go have a conversation with him and he could give them a few hours because they they still have six days before game one of the NBA finals. So, I would imagine there’s an opportunity to still have an in-person conversation with him. Um, okay. I got to ask David Fale. I mean, I know that’s been bouncing around out there. Look, I I don’t want to I don’t want to say too much on this. So, I’m just going to say the final five candidates were the two guys from Cleveland, Sean Sweeney, A and Dave Bliss. Okay. Um, that that’s the that’s your final five candidates. Okay. That’s the that that’s the guys that were being interviewed to be those are the five that were interviewed to be the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. Okay. Those five guys were interviewed to be the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. like you’re pulling a Forest Gump on me and that’s all I got to say about that is what you what you’re telling me. Pisdale’s a very wellrespected guy and I I I I think there might even be a chance that he stays on on the staff, you know, that he might stay. That would be fascinating. That would be fascinating if he stayed on. Yeah, he’s a respected veteran respected veteran coach. Huh. Okay. But the but the people that have interviewed for the head coach of of the Phoenix Suns are a Sweeney Bryant Quinn and Bliss who they have not um spoken to in person. So the inerson ones are done outside of Bliss. They’re done and they’re over. And I I’ve always said I I always said early June. So a lot of people are asking me right now, does this mean next week? Possibly. I I don’t have a definite answer for yet, but early June. It’s what we a month ago. That’s what me and you said early June. You said late May, early June. And that’s and that’s where where we’re trending to. And and you know, I would imagine the only the only thing now to hold this up and I I hate to use that phrase, but it’s the only one that’s coming to mind. The only thing now to hold this up would be how bad do they want to have a conversation face to face with Dave Bliss and how accommodating will everyone be to get that done, right? Like if they can if they can hop on Matt’s plane and fly to Oklahoma City and have a three-hour conversation with Dave Bliss and it doesn’t interfere with his preparation for the NBA Finals and if they can get that done in the next and I’m just totally speculating here 24 hours, 48 hours, 72, then there’s not there’s really nothing left to do at that point. I mean, at that point, you’ve had multiple rounds of interviews with all the guys you want to talk to. You’ve done the face to face thing. You’ve you’ve you’ve you’ve vetted every candidate thoroughly. you have taken your time and I have no problem with how long this has taken at all. None. At that point, there’s really nothing else to do but make the hard choice, right? Like, and you can’t, you know, you you you can’t I don’t know. Let’s think about it a little more. No. At some point, you got to say, “This is the guy. This is the guy. You got to make that decision. You got to live with it. Right or wrong, good or bad.” And I can’t imagine we’re any more than a couple days away from that. I would think Brian Gregor has run this whole thing. I do would think at some point that you know now the question that I have to find out and I am working on this. I am working on it. Do you make a decision off of the five interviews or do you cut it down to two or three and then bring Matt Ishbia in and and do another round of interviews? I mean well this was Yeah. Now do you narrow it down from five? You got it to you have five guys. Five. Do you do you now say let’s just pick two or three and then do one more set of inerson interviews and include everybody? Yeah. Um, that’s, you know, that that I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m I’m I’m going to I’m just saying I’m going to I want to find that out. Or do they make the decision off of the five? Look, I just got done saying there’s there’s no rush here and and and truly there really isn’t a rush here at all. If they wanted to do that in theory, fine. I mean, it’s it’s not, you know, I just I hope they’re doing it for the right reason and not the wrong reason. The right reason is because they really want to do their due diligence and make sure they’re choosing the wrong the right guy. The wrong reason to keep stalling is because you’re not sure who the right guy is. You don’t you don’t really have like a clear-cut, oh yeah, no, that’s the like because if you know, you know, right? Like, but you you’ve spent enough time with these candidates that I can’t imagine they don’t have a gut feeling of, no, that’s the guy. He he was great. He’s gonna be our next head coach. He was awesome. And if you need another round of interviews, if it’s in the name of due diligence and just wanting to be sure, okay, I guess. But if it’s in the name of, boy, we’re still not really quite sure, that would concern me a little bit because I I would feel by now you should probably have a pretty good idea of who your next head coach is going to be. Yeah. Well, remember, they started with somewhere between 15 and 20, and now it’s down to five. And I just again I I’d like to find out um I don’t I don’t know. Do you need to do you need to knock it down one more round? I mean, or can you just make the decision? You’ve done you’ve done the in-person interviews at this point. You should really know Yeah. Uh who’s going to be who who you want to be your head coach, but sometimes, and I do know that this happens sometimes, like general managers, and this is throughout basketball, okay? This is throughout basketball, GMs take a take a coaching candidate list, and they narrow it down to a few guys, and then they bring the owner in. These are the guys I like. I just want you to hear from them and then I’ll give you I’ll tell you who I think should be the coach and you know you just want you want to include the you want to include the owner owners are included in everything just they just so you know they are this isn’t nothing anything new with Matt is all owners are involved in it. Um so I do wonder if they if they do bring Matt in at some point just to hear what these guys have to say. There was a there was actually a really good story about this today from John Voya over on Bright Side of the Sun um in which he kind of he he talked about how look when Matt bought the team he came in wallet wide open looking to spend his way to a championship and when that didn’t work he’s now leaning into a very corporate structure that and in in John’s words he’s more comfortable with one rooted in the corporate world one in which internal hires happen And and this is interesting long vetting process. That’s the norm. It just it takes and I and I I I I kind of have some knowledge of this with my wife. She used to work kind of in that corporate culture and and when they were, you know, looking for executives and things like that, man, they vet the hell out of these candidates and they and they talk and they talk some more and they have this round of conversation and that round of conversation and they really take their time with it. A and there there’s at least a conversation to be had and an argument to be made. That’s what the Suns are doing here that they’re approaching this and they’ve got the ability to do this because nobody else is looking for a coach right now. They’re approaching this with very much a corporatlike mindset. Let’s really vet the hell out of every single one of these guys to make absolute sure we’re making the right choice. It’s a good point you make. I I mean, listen, there’s no doubt about this. There’s no doubt, okay? You can criticize whatever you want about the Phoenix Suns. the Kevin Durant trade, Bradley Beal, the hiring of of Greg. You could do that all you want. This has been one of the most extensive coaching searches that I’ve ever been a part of in my lifetime. In my lifetime, one of the most extensive coaching searches. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I think it’s a good thing because they had you’re and and they probably were able to do it this way because like you said, they had time. They’re in no rush. Um there’s no competition. No competition. But I’ve never in all my years of covering sports and I started as a sports writer in New York in 1986. I’ve never seen a coaching surge this extensive. There’s no co nobody can say they didn’t do their homework. They didn’t do it the right way. They didn’t vet these guys. They they’ve done a terrific job a terrific job of of doing this the right way to make sure they end up with the right coach. Now, I don’t I don’t know that the guy’s going to be the right coach. I’m just saying that they’ve done it the right way. Yeah. as as long as they’re doing it this way for the right reasons and not because they’re just not sure who they want to hire or that there’s internal confusion or competing ideas about who they want to hire. That there’s a there’s a flip side to this. They’re taking their time coin too. And the flip side could be the idea that they’re just not sure yet or internally they’re indecided on who they want to hire which would be a problem. So, so it’s there’s there’s that side of the story that I want to get out there too. Thanks for watching Burns and Gambo. Click to see more from the guys and hit the button in the middle to subscribe so you never miss a video from Arizona Sports.

The search continues as the Phoenix Suns are narrowing down their candidates for the team’s next head coach.

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