By far the biggest acquisition the Phoenix Suns made during the offseason was bringing in Arizona native Mike Budenholzer to coach the team. The 2023-24 season went wrong for a lot of reasons, and previous head coach Frank Vogel sure felt like one of them.
Defensively he never got that group to an elite level, although in hindsight it is unclear just who exactly could have achieved that goal. Coach Vogel even managing to get something out of fringe rotation players such as Bol Bol on the offensive end. The thinking was the coach Budenholzer could be the missing piece in what to this point has been a disappointing jigsaw.
Now a third of the way into the season, has that actually been the case?
The short answer is no, although it is more complicated than that. After 30 games the Suns sit 15-15, which unfortunately for them is even outside of the play-in tournament. There's plenty of time to get this right - and much like Vogel last season - it is hard to even know how much of what has gone wrong is down to coach Budenholzer.
He appears much more approachable both to media and his own team, and exudes a calmness on the bench that was lacking last season. It is also not his fault that injuries have again robbed the Suns of extended game time with their top three players of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, and coach Budenholzer can take credit in how he has used rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
Mike Budenholzer wasn't aware of the new $2 value menu for some concessions at Suns games, but he was a fan: "I think it's great. More value for the fans. I might ask Mat [Ishbia] how come it's not $3 so that we can shoot more 3s, but in this case, 2s are good!” pic.twitter.com/znshv25HUT
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) December 18, 2024
It is also not on coach Bud that Jimmy Butler rumors persist which could have a negative impact on the group, while he is being forced to use a center in Jusuf Nurkic who simply isn't good enough for the aspirations this organization currently has. When you consider all of those factors then, Budenholzer is actually doing a very good job keeping this train on the tracks.
But then there is the insistence that Nurkic become a threat from deep - which we know from his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks - has the potential to end badly. It is all well and good getting this team to shoot more 3-pointers, they've got elite marksmen such as Beal, Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale who can hurt opponents when given the freedom to let it fly.
Yet despite having all these threats from deep - plus the incredible talents of Booker and Durant - the Suns sit ninth in offensive rating (113.6) so far this season. By no means a bad spot to be, but worse even than the Vogel led team (116.8) of a year ago. Coach Budenholzer can point to injuries which have curtailed the growth on that end, only coach Vogel can also say the same thing.
Jusuf Nurkic, Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington were all ejected after this scuffle in Mavs-Suns. pic.twitter.com/A3Gk7eBYlI
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 28, 2024
The introduction of point guard Tyus Jones was also meant to help in this area - and while he's certainly been an excellent addition - the team is still turning the ball over 14.1 times each game. That is also good for ninth in the league - and although a massive improvement on a year ago - it still feels like the team throw the ball away needlessly at critical times in close games.
Again though blaming coach Budenholzer on that seems harsh, considering he can't take care of the ball for the team out there. What he can do however is make braver calls with regards to the rotation, with Nurkic still starting when available and Beal not coming off the bench despite it making a lot more sense for both the starting and bench units.
The depth behind Nurkic in Mason Plumlee and Ighodaro is backup level at best, and the decision to bring Beal off the bench likely isn't Budenholzer's alone. Yet these are areas he surely has a say, and he need only point to the fact this group sit a lowly 22nd in defensive rating (115.3) as reason enough to try something different.
Last season with Beal limited to 53 games and the Suns again starting Nurkic, coach Vogel was able to get what is mostly the same group to 13th (113.7), and there is no doubt he would have loved the use of Dunn and Ighodaro to make that number shrink even more. The defensive end of the court then, is an obvious area of improvement for coach Budenholzer as the season progresses.
It has only been one-third of the season, and it is hard to separate coach Budenholzer's performance from the more deep rooted issues within the organization right now. But if he deserved credit for that blistering 8-1 start - and he most certainly did - then the fall back to earth is partly on coach's shoulders as well.