Newly minted Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer has a lot on his plate as the 2024 NBA offseason officially enters its dog days. Budenholzer inherited arguably the most unenviable job in the entire NBA in a Suns team that is somehow not competitive in the Western Conference despite having hamstrung its future self to put Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker on the same team in the present.

Last year, the result was a first round playoff sweep at the hands of Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with the inability to add much of any help in the offseason, at least roster wise. However, it appears that Budenholzer is doing his part to make sure that the sidelines are as well-prepared as they can be to help the team succeed.

“Brent Barry — who spent the past six seasons in the Spurs’ front office — is joining the Phoenix Suns as an assistant coach, sources tell ESPN. Barry was part of two NBA titles in a 14-year playing career,” reported NBA insider Adrain Wojnarowski of ESPN on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.

Barry of course played with the Spurs for a long time and found great success with the franchise during their dynastic run, and has since established himself as one of the brightest minds in the game, well aware of how the game has evolved so quickly in the last several years analytically.

Can the Suns compete in the west?

Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer watches his team during practice at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on July 16, 2021.
Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Probably not.

At the present moment, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder are all firmly ahead of Phoenix in the conference hierarchy, with a slew of about a half dozen other teams, not even including the figuring to be much improved San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies, who could also conceivably be better than the Suns as well.

So much of the Suns' problems a year ago occurred due to the fact that their star trio at times appeared to cancel out each other's strengths while exacerbating each other's weaknesses. While Budenholzer has proven to be able to get the most out of flawed rosters when it comes to a general lack of talent, working with an abundance of talent that clearly doesn't fit together will be a new challenge for the former NBA championship winning coach to try to overcome.

In any case, the NBA schedule is set to be released in August.