The Phoenix Suns will head into next season with yet another new coach because of the recent firing of Igor Kokoskov. While a lot of people are clueless as to why the franchise will be hiring another coach, general manager James Jones explained why a new man calling the shots is necessary for the team.
Jones said that the firing of Kokoskov is due to the fact that they wanted to address a “collective set of issues,” and the first time NBA coach wasn't able to deal with those during his time with the team.
Jones called it a collective set of issues he thought the team could improve on. Said he won't talk about those issues. Said he will talk more broadly about the future of the team.
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) April 24, 2019
This will be the fifth time since 2013 that the Suns will be replacing their coach, but Jones said that the franchise is after results more than stability:
Jones said having stability for the sake of stability is not something they are in to.
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) April 24, 2019
Jones acknowledged that although he was impressed by Kokoskov's player development program, the fact that it didn't help them become a competitive team is one of the reasons why they had to let him go:
Jones inferred that Kokoskov's player development might have been done well in terms of individuals improving but it wasn't translating to wins.
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) April 24, 2019
But Jones also admitted that the firing of Kokoskov is partly because of their shift of focus midway through the season:
James Jones admits Suns brought Igor Kokoskov in to coach a team of vets. Then shifted focus. Admitting they changed course yet again …
— Kevin Zimmerman (@KZimmermanAZ) April 24, 2019
The Suns are going to rebuild. They want to build around the young guys on the roster, mainly Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton. There are still a lot of questions surrounding the franchise in general, including who the new coach is going to be.
Hopefully, this next coach is somebody who will actually provide some stability and success.