3. Frank Vogel
It speaks volumes about Booker's tenure with the Suns that a head coach who only lasted one season - and nobody was surprised to see him get axed - finishes in the top three here. Vogel's time in The Valley was unique though because under most other circumstances, he surely would have been given more time to turn things around.
Only he had to contend with a new owner in Mat Ishbia who is impatient in trying to make the most out of having Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal on the same roster. They don't have time to see if he can turn this roster into a defensive monster - although the early returns weren't promising anyway - and so he had to go.
"If you look at the way the roster was constructed and to say is Frank Vogel the perfect coach for that time? I would have no idea, but to put it all on him doesn't make sense."
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 10, 2024
-@TheFrankIsola on the #Suns pic.twitter.com/IJkEEoH896
In fairness to Vogel, he went through an entire regular season with no traditional point guard, having to rely on center Jusuf Nurkic each night and Beal missing a lot of time through injury. Any time Bol Bol looks like the actual solution - and he did a few times after Christmas - you know you can only go so far.
History may be kind to Vogel as well - as not only did he avoid the play-in and win 49 games in his only year in charge - the sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves could look very different a few months from now. At the time it was downright ugly but if they make the finals, then how much of this season can really be blamed on Vogel? Good coach + new owner = wrong time.