The Phoenix Suns will be looking for a new head coach this offseason, but the franchise shouldn’t have Jason Kidd on their interview list.
While interim head coach Jay Triano has done a great job with this young Phoenix Suns roster, general manager Ryan McDonough still should be looking at all options for the head coaching position this offseason. Don’t be mistaken, Triano should be seriously considered for the permanent position, but McDonough should take a look at his options. However, McDonough shouldn’t consider former head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, Jason Kidd.
Recently it was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, that Kidd was fired as the Bucks’ head coach. Wojnarowski gave more details regarding the dismissal.
Bucks made move on Kidd based upon dropping into the 8th seed in the East, frayed relationships in organization and general non-alignment, league sources tell ESPN. Bucks job will be most sought after of offseason, largely because of @Giannis_An34.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 22, 2018
It’s hard to underachieve with a transcendent player like Giannis Antetokounmpo on the roster. To think that Kidd couldn’t run into the same problem in Phoenix with a young star in Devin Booker would be naive. Holding the underachievement that Kidd experienced with the Brooklyn Nets is unfair, that falls more on the team’s former general manager Billy King. Still a history of not meeting expectation is something the Suns’ don’t need.
Phoenix Suns
Another issue that could occur if the Suns were to hire Kidd is that he couldn’t develop Thon Maker. Let it be made clear that Kidd has done great with perimeter players like the Greek Freak, Malcolm Brogdon, and Jabari Parker. However, Maker has the potential to become an elite stretch center in the NBA. Yet at this point Maker has barely shown progress. The Suns’ have two young big men in Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender, who have been very slow in their progress up to this point. There’s a chance that if Kidd can’t develop these two former lottery picks, it would put the Suns’ in a bad position. However, this is a small concern and a coach can’t always be blamed for a player not developing. Honestly, this should be the smallest concern that the Suns’ should have about Kidd.
Besides the knack of underachieving, there’s one other big concern that McDonough and owner Robert Sarver should have about Kidd. As seen in the tweet above, Kidd’s relationship with the Bucks’ management hadn’t been great. This isn’t the first time that Kidd has ruffled the feathers of a team’s organization either. Before Kidd was traded by the Nets to the Bucks, there was an issue with Kidd trying to get a promotion that would allow him to coach and have an input on player personnel decisions with the Nets. Kidd’s quest for more power in the organization was stopped by the Nets ownership, but that’s an issue that McDonough and Sarver shouldn’t want to deal with.
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As nice as it would be to have a former Phoenix Suns player as the franchise’s next head coach, it shouldn’t be Kidd. Kidd’s coaching record of 183-190 isn’t astounding. A reunion of Kidd and the Suns is not the right move for the organization.