Suns Head Coach Frank Vogel Fired After First Year
After a lackluster and disappointing season culminating in an embarrassing first-round sweep against the Timberwolves, the Phoenix Suns have decided to move on from head coach Frank Vogel after just one season. After an offseason of mortgaging their future to bring in Bradley Beal to form a new big three around Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, hopes were high that this could be the team that would finally bring a championship home to the desert. However, after an injury-riddled season that saw the big three only play 41 games together, the Suns stumbled into the playoffs, barely avoiding the play-in on the final day of the season, grabbing the sixth seed with a record of 49-33. Of particular concern, despite having three of the best clutch isolation scorers in the NBA, they finished as the worst fourth-quarter team in the entire NBA, often being unable to hold on to big leads when it mattered most. Under Vogel, the offense was always stagnant with one player isolating and the rest standing still. Their lack of a point guard led the Suns to finish 25th in the NBA in turnover percentage at 15%. Furthermore, the defense, which Vogel is known for, was ranked in the bottom five of the NBA in contested shots with free runs to the rim and easy shots a common occurrence for opponents of this Suns squad.
Yet, despite all of this, Suns fans remained optimistic heading into their playoff matchup against the Timberwolves. In the regular season, the Suns won every matchup against the Timberwolves by double digits. Even more impressive in these regular season matchups they held Timberwolves star player Anthony Edwards to just 14.33 points per game on just 31% from the field. However, in the playoffs, Edwards took his game to another level, averaging 31 a game on 51% shooting. It was clear Frank Vogel’s defensive tactics for which they hired him for were not working as the Suns got blown out by an average of 15 points over the four games en route to a 4-0 sweep of the “big three” Suns.
With reports of the coaching staff not being on the same page, players questioning Vogel’s ability to lead, and star players not being held accountable, it was a clear decision for GM James Jones. With the Suns having few picks over the next few years, it is clear they will still be in win-now mode and be looking for a coach to take them to the promise land. While the coaching market is slim this year, there are several viable candidates the Suns can look at to fill their vacancy. The favorite to land the position is Arizona native, Mike Budenholzer. Ironically Budenholzer was the coach of the Bucks when they took down the Suns in the Finals in 2021. He is a coach with a championship pedigree and has experience managing star players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Al Horford. Budenholzer-led teams often take a lot of threes and spread the floor with shooters around a star like the Suns prefer to do, but he’s also got keen defensive acumen that could help the Suns get the best out of both ends of the floor. Other candidates could include JJ Reddick, who although has no coaching experience it is clear he understands the game at a high level and would keep star players accountable, and Chris Quinn, assistant coach for Miami who could help instill some much-needed “Heat culture” to this suns team, or even Suns former coach, Mike D’Antoni who could help get the offense up and running again with the right system. Whoever the next coach, they will have a tough task ahead of them with the massive expectations that will be put on them from year one, but the Suns will be hoping that the right coach could take their massive collection of talent to another level and finally bring home a much-needed championship to the valley of the sun.
