3 reasons the Phoenix Suns will win an NBA Championship this season
By Luke Duffy
2. They have the best coaching staff
There is little doubt that new head coach Frank Vogel was the right choice to take over from the departed Monty Williams this offseason. Vogel won a championship with the Lakers back in 2020, and so is used to dealing with superstars and getting the best out of them.
That will never be more true than it is on the defensive end, with the hope being that Vogel can cobble together the kinds of rotations and units that are capable of getting some stops down the stretch of games. The front office doing their bit to help this in getting Bates-Diop, Chimezie Metu, Drew Eubanks, Eric Gordon and bringing back Josh Okogie this summer.
While Vogel alone is not the best head coach in the league – that distinction belongs to Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat – he does form what has become the best coaching staff. The Suns going out and getting a proven leading man in David Fizdale to join as an assistant.
On top of that, the franchise also retained the services of Kevin Young, who is now the highest paid lead assistant in the league. The importance of this is huge, both because Young is somebody who Booker trusts and because of the continuity he brings to the team. The roster may have been overhauled, but having at least one voice from before helps to link past and present.
The combination of these three coaches is exactly what the Suns will need when the going gets tough. There is tons of experience, a head coach in Vogel who has climbed to the top of the mountain before, and an assistant in Young who has the ear of the franchise player. Building a special group off the court, as well as on, is one of Ishbia’s biggest wins so far.