The Phoenix Suns have a ton of big decisions to make this summer, and none will have a greater impact than who they hire as their next head coach. We already know that a first round of interviews have taken place, with those advancing to what was amusingly coined the "Elite 8" phase of the process.
To the surprise of many, one candidate has already been with the franchise for a number of years now and worked alongside both Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer. A puzzling development for an organization that is supposedly trying to move away from the mistakes of the last few seasons. Surely a first-time leading man who can stick around long-term should be who they have in mind.
Coach with ties to Michigan State gaining some traction.
The above sentence should be enough to send Suns fans into a tailspin, and with good reason. Owner Mat Ishbia - himself a walk-on for Michigan State back in the day - has already turned to his alma mater this offseason in order to find himself a new General Manager. That would be Brian Gregory, an individual with no prior experience in that role.
The idea that Ishbia is hiring his buddies - Gregory worked as an assistant under Tom Izzo in Michigan - is concerning, because that is not generally how you build a successful franchise. Being friendly with somebody can be helpful in that you can perhaps speak to them in an honest way that is difficult if you don't have that pre-existing relationship, but they also have to actually be good at the job.
Which makes the emergence of Jordan Ott as a name to watch for the head coaching gig in Phoenix a concern. He is rumored to be a strong candidate in part because of his own links to Michigan State, where he was a video co-ordinator there for five seasons. That... should not be reason enough to take somebody on for a massive job, and one that is going to involve getting Devin Booker onside early.
Where it gets better however is with the fact Ott is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and has three previous stops in the league under his belt. It is not like he went straight from the film room to being put in position for this job, and his path to this point thankfully has more in common with somebody like Erik Spoelstra than it does new GM Gregory.
Perhaps now is his time to get a head coaching job in the league - but even if that is the case - Ott is going to need to have thick skin. The links to Michigan will be brought up early and often - and if the team were to struggle next season with him at the helm - not being ready but being elevated because of what college he started out with would be a fact he could not escape.
Ishbia needs to be careful here, because the outside perception that has been built up over the last several seasons has not been what the fans would have hoped for having lived through the awful Robert Sarver experience. Bringing the All-Star game to Phoenix is cool, and lowering costs for food in the arena and bringing Suns games to the masses is also commendable.
But what the people really care about is competing for a championship, and surrounding himself with friendly faces from the past might not be the way to get that done. Then again, it is not like going after proven head coaches who had won it all brought much success either. We will know more as the "Elite 8" becomes the "Final 4", but do not be surprised to see Ott go deep in this process.