Suns' head coaching job voted one of league's worst
By Luke Duffy
The Phoenix Suns will enter the 2024-25 season with their third head coach in the last three seasons. This time it will be the turn of Arizona native Mike Budenholzer to see if he can steer this group any closer to a championship.
Given the struggles of Monty Williams with the Detroit Pistons - and despite a section of fans who would gladly take him back - moving on from him when they did looks like the right move. Previous head coach Frank Vogel may feel aggrieved to have only been given a year to impress, but he's been quickly forgotten by the fanbase.
It should come as no surprise then, that the top job in The Valley is viewed as one of the least desirable in the NBA today.
That's according to Sam Quinn of CBS Sports, who recently ranked all 30 head coaching jobs in the league. With an owner in Mat Ishbia who seemingly has bottomless pockets when it comes to spending money and a "Big 3" of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, you would think the Suns job would rank highly right?
After all, Budenholzer has a chance to compete for a championship and has one of the best superstars in the league in Booker leading the charge. Durant has also readily accepted this next phase of his career, that of second option who can take over and close a game whenever he is called upon to do so. Despite this, the Suns finished 24th, and Quinn did not hold back in his assessment.
"Imagine if you could combine the relatively limited short-term championship equity that the Lakers have with the disastrous long-term outlook that the Clippers have. That, essentially, is where the Suns are right now."
- Sam Quinn on Phoenix Suns
That in itself is a pretty depressing statement to take in if you're a Suns fan, but it only gets worse from there. For all of the big names that are in Phoenix right now, there is little roster flexibility and an owner in Ishbia who is impatient when it comes to winning.
" They're hamstrung by the second apron. They have arguably the most meddlesome owner in the NBA in Mat Ishbia, who has fired head coaches in both of his two seasons at the helm (Monty Williams in 2023 and Frank Vogel in 2024). James Jones is the general manager, but it's not fully clear who is making decisions, and it's not even clear who they'd be better off relying on: Jones, a GM who has openly said he doesn't care about the draft, or Isiah Thomas, one of the worst GMs in league history, but a close friend and advisor to Ishbia."
- Sam Quinn on Phoenix Suns
So when you lay all of the pieces out like that, it becomes clear just what a tough task this will be for Budenholzer. Perhaps his enthusiasm for the job - he'd have gone to the moon for them - is partly why he got the gig, and he was in charge of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 when they beat the Suns in the NBA Finals.
dark. Next. 3 players in the NBA Finals the Suns could sign this summer. 3 players in the NBA Finals the Suns could sign this summer
Prior to that there was a 60 win Atlanta Hawks group and offensively he is a better mind than both Vogel or Williams. The hope surely being that he can unlock new ways to use not only the stars, but Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic as well, to get the Suns closer to contention. Hey, at least they're not the Chicago Bulls, the worst head coaching job in the league right now according to Quinn.