The Phoenix Suns have many issues to address this offseason, but few are as important as finding a new head coach for the team. Mike Budenholzer given his marching orders after just one season, making him the third head coach - after Frank Vogel and Monty Williams - to be canned in the last three seasons.
That lack of stability is a killer if you're a franchise trying to compete, and at this point it is fair to wonder if somebody else was unfairly made a scapegoat for the poor season the franchise had. Rumors have swirled around who the next leading man could be, with owner Mat Ishbia saying it is a process they are not going to rush.
Steve Nash has appeared to rule himself out of contention.
The preferred logic over who the next head coach could be was apparently rooted in the belief that it should not be a veteran coach. Both Vogel and Budenholzer came to The Valley having won championships elsewhere, and so had strong ideas about what a roster consisting of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal needed to do to compete.
We now know that didn't work, with those coaches failing to mesh properly with the star duo of Booker and Durant in particular. Beal had his own beef with Vogel, infamously slapping his hand away when he checked out of a game during their playoff series sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves last season. A spot they failed to even get back to this time out.
Instead what the Suns need is a younger head coach - somebody like a Jamahl Mosley - who the team can grow with and who can instil a defensive-minded approach to playing. You may not like to hear it, but making this trade to take a step back next season might just be the only way out of the mess the organization currently finds itself in.
Steve Nash should have been an ideal candidate then, as he ticks lots of boxes. He's a franchise legend, and recently was asked to team up with LeBron James - as JJ Redick was before him - on the "Mind The Game" podcast. He's also been a head coach in the past, so at least has some experience in that regard. Fans would give him plenty of time to gets things right in Phoenix as well.
The main stumbling block would have been coaching Durant again - that did not end well when the pair were with the Brooklyn Nets - but with Durant expected to depart this offseason, that issue could have been avoided as well. All was looking good, until it was confirmed that Nash would be joining Amazon Prime's coverage of the NBA next season.
This is a blow for the Suns - and although they will surely have plenty of other options to choose from - it could have been a nice way to get this issue sorted early in the offseason. As it stands they may yet add a top executive to the mix, in a clear sign that Ishbia is going to do what he can off the court to build a winner.
Current General Manager James Jones - whose contract expires this summer - is reportedly involved in the search for the next coach, an interesting turn of events given the uncertainty around his position with the Suns. We can now take Nash off the table, with the franchise needing to move quickly but sensibly to find somebody who can grow with Booker long-term.