Fire Igor Hire Monty
Following the end of the regular season it seemed that there was still a chance that Igor Kokoskov would be retained and that his offense would be given a chance with a legitimate point guard on the roster (imagine how it would look now with Ricky Rubio), it apparently wasn’t meant to be.
However, while on the surface Igor looks like another failed head coach who was done after only one season and not given a full roster with which to work, he was never the franchise’s first choice and it’s not like they invested a whole lot into signing him.
Monty Williams, on the other hand, was arguably this offseason’s most sought after head coaching candidate (I bet if you had asked Bill Simmons at the start of the offseason where he thought Williams was likely to end up, he not only would have said “never the Suns” but would have believed the Lakers along with most of the rest of NBA-watchers), and if you have a chance to upgrade any position in a franchise, and the cost isn’t an issue – don’t you do it?
While Monty has not coached a single game in Phoenix, one can not help but feel extremely positive about what he can bring to the team after at least seeing his two press conferences to date.
Williams has NBA head coaching experience, he has playoff experience, he turned the New Orleans Pelicans around not once but twice, he helped Anthony Davis grow and should help Deandre Ayton as well…There are just far too many positives to not think that the franchise upgraded at head coach – for as good as Igor could be – or to criticize this combined hiring/firing.