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The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after just one season, the team announced on Monday.
“Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season,” the team released in a statement. “Our fans deserve better. Change is needed.”
Budenholzer, 55, was hired by the Suns in 2024 on a five-year deal worth roughly $50 million, making him one of the highest-paid head coaches in the NBA. After taking the 2023-24 season to himself upon being let go by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023, Budenholzer decided to jump at the opportunity to coach Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal.
In one season with the Suns, the veteran head coach went 36-46, failing to make the playoffs and finishing 11th in the Western Conference.
Phoenix was the third different organization that Budenholzer had coached. He had previously spent five seasons with both the Atlanta Hawks and Bucks, winning a championship with Milwaukee in 2021.
Just one season after winning 49 games, claiming the 6-seed in the West, and finishing with a top-15 defense, the Suns plummeted to the third-worst defense in the NBA, failing to meet owner Mat Ishbia's lofty championship expectations.
Ishbia, who took control of the Suns in 2023, will now search for his organization's fourth head coach after firing Monty Williams in 2023 and Frank Vogel in 2024 after one season with the franchise.
The Suns owned the league's highest payroll this season — roughly $214 million in salaries and $150 million in luxury tax payments. With stars like Booker, Durant, and Beal, Ishbia made it clear that spending power would not stand in the way of him making the Suns a clear championship contender in the Western Conference.
James Jones, the team's president of basketball operations, will see his contract expire in June before the start of free agency. It is possible Jones could be next on Ishbia's list to replace, although no decision on his future has been made at this juncture.
The Suns now face a lot of uncertainty heading into the offseason. One year after being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, this organization failed to reach even the Western Conference Play-in Tournament with two of the best pure scorers in the league. Durant, who heard his name in rumors at the trade deadline, will be at the focal point of trade conversations held this summer.
When Durant was healthy and on the court this season, Phoenix went 33-29. Without him, the team was just 3-17.
While the Suns and Ishbia have made it clear that Booker will not be available in trade talks, the 28-year-old guard will surely be on several teams' radars. In 10 seasons with the Suns, Booker has played for seven different head coaches, including Budenholzer.
Ishbia has proven to be one of the most aggressive owners in the NBA over the last two years. This offseason, he will again seek to make massive changes to his organization, starting with finding a replacement for Budenholzer.
