New Suns GM Brian Gregory on head coaching search, role of Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein
The Suns are looking to redefine the team identity with that coach that brings a systematic approach, toughness and accountability
The Phoenix Suns are seeking their fourth head coach in as many seasons under owner Mat Ishbia.The new coach will likely inherit a roster in flux and an owner with a history of quick coaching changes.
Phoenix Suns team owner Mat Ishbia vowed days after firing Mike Budenholzer in April that they’d get their next head coach hire right.
Two months and more than 15 candidates interviewed later, the Suns are down to two finalists — Cleveland Cavaliers assistants Jordan Ott and Johnnie Bryant.
This will be Phoenix’s fourth head coach in four seasons, as Monty Williams, Frank Vogel and Budenholzer were fired after each of the last three seasons with Ishbia as team owner.
The Suns finished 36-46 last season and missed the playoffs under Budenholzer to mark their first losing season since 2019-20, which was the last time they failed to make the playoffs.
The new hire will be a first-year NBA head coach. The last person they hired without prior NBA head coaching experience was Igor Kokoskov in the 2018-19 season.
He was a former assistant for the Suns when they made the playoffs in 2010, marking the beginning of an 11-year postseason drought for the team. Phoenix lost to Kobe Bryant and the eventual two-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals.
Kokoskov was a welcome hire, but the Suns won just 19 games under him. They let him go after one season, hired Williams and the franchise started changing for the better. Two years later, Williams coached the Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals.
So, what should be the expectation for a first-year NBA head coach entering what a league source called “a tough situation”?
For starters, the Suns have a disgruntled fan base questioning the decision-making on multiple levels.
The Suns are projected to exceed the second league tax apron again in 2025-26, with a roster that features three players — Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal — who are due a combined $160 million next season.
Getting under the second apron would improve their roster flexibility.
They are expected to make roster moves this summer that likely will involve Durant, whom Phoenix floated in trade talks prior to the 2025 trade deadline, when the Suns were pursuing Jimmy Butler from Miami. Trading Beal remains a challenge because his contract includes a no-trade clause that he must waive for a deal to occur.
The eventual roster certainly will factor into how the Suns fare, but the new head coach should be expected to have his team compete at a high level every game. The Suns didn’t do that consistently, not only game to game but quarter to quarter during the 2024-25 season.
That should be the starting point.
The Western Conference is a monster.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the NBA’s best team, led by NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and favored to defeat the Indiana Pacers in this year’s finals, which begin with Game 1 on Thursday at OKC.
The Denver Nuggets have the NBA’s best player in Nikola Jokic and pushed OKC to seven games in the conference semifinals.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have reached the conference finals two consecutive years with Anthony Edwards.
Phoenix’s record against those three teams this past season was 1-10, defeating the Nuggets once.
Then there’s the Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, all playoff teams this year. The Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs should improve.
The new head coach not only has to work with a roster that will likely lack continuity, but also face a conference with at least eight teams that will probably be considered better than Phoenix.
Then there’s the internal pressure of coaching for an owner who has fired three coaches in three years. Not only did Phoenix’s previous three head coaches have head coaching experience, but Williams, Vogel and Budenholzer each coached in the NBA Finals.
Vogel and Budenholzer each won a championship. Williams didn’t, but he lost to Budenholzer in 2021.
So, the new hire should expect to get more than one season to see if he’s the right coach, right?
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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