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As the Phoenix Suns are searching for their new head coach after firing Mike Budenholzer, they are going to be looking for someone to bring a jolt back to the franchise after the past few seasons of disappointment. Now that the Suns have a new general manager in Brian Gregory and are moving James Jones as a senior adviser, there are two names that the team is looking at as possibilities to be the head coach.
While there will be a lot of interviews for the role, the newest blog on “The Stein Line” written by Marc Stein and Jake Fischer narrows it down to two names. The focus for Phoenix is getting someone who will be doing their first year as a head coach, rather than experienced ones like the past two for the franchise in Budenholzer and Frank Vogel.
However, there are two names in New Orleans Pelicans associate James Borrego and Milwaukee Bucks assistant Dave Joerger who have head coaching experience.
“Word is, though, that Phoenix has weighed pulling some candidates into its search who do have NBA head coaching experience,” the blog wrote. “Two such names that have already emerged as possibilities: New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego and Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Dave Joerger.”
“Before Gregory's promotion, Jones had begun contacting coaching agents around the league and likewise informed multiple members of Budenholzer's coaching staff that they could expect the opportunity to interview for the lead chair,” the blog continued. “Since Budenholzer was fired the day after Phoenix's 36-46 nightmare, there has been constant messaging emanating from the desert to suggest that the Suns have a strong interest in hiring a first-time head coach after veterans Budenholzer and Frank Vogel both lasted just one year each despite signing five-year contracts.”
The other names for the Suns' job after the Mike Budenholzer firing
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While there have been other coaches on the Suns' radar, the search is reportedly going to be “wide-ranging,” as said by The Stein Line. Phoenix would make the NBA Finals in 2021 and lose in the conference semifinals in the next two years, but it was in the 2023-24 season that the franchise's luck started to turn around, where they were swept in the first round of the playoffs.
Budenholzer would only coach the team for the season, being fired a day after the regular season ended, as they didn't make the postseason. The Suns are looking at an array of other people, some of whom are still in the playoffs and others who just got some time free.
“The list of known candidates includes some still working in the playoffs (Cleveland's Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, Houston's Royal Ivey and Oklahoma City's Dave Bliss) and some who are already available (such as Miami's Chris Quinn and the Dallas duo of Sean Sweeney and Jared Dudley),” the blog wrote.
Phoenix is looking to vastly improve after finishing with a 36-46 record, which put them 11th in the Western Conference.
