The Phoenix Suns are back on the market for a head coach. Head coach Mike Budenholzer You were fired by the Suns with the team after just one season. Phoenix went 36-46 and finished 11th in the Western Conference.
“Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we did not achieve expectations this season,” the team shared in a statement placed on social media. “Our fans deer better. Change is needed.”
Budenholzer was the third coach The Suns who used for a three-year piece and hire him to replace Frank Vogel the last season after they were under the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the play-offs.
While Phoenix Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal brought back for the 2024-25 season, the Suns had a steep drop-off-drop-off play this year after ending with 48 wins last season. They Untition came to an 8-1 start of the season with Durant and Booker who played at a high level after they helped the United States to win the gold medal in men’s basketball on the Olympic Summer Games 2024.
However, the game of the Sens was fast. They fell to .500 shortly before Christmas Day and floated almost the rest of the year that brand before they went on a 1-9 slip to end the season, with Durant missing the last seven games.
On top of the overwhelming version on the field there was an internal drama around Phoenix. Jusuf Nurkic said that he and Budenholzer had no relationship and had not played in two mouths before he was traded in February. In the meantime, Beal reported that he refused to abandon his No-Trade clause when he became the subject of trade rumors prior to the Handelsdeadline in February.
There were also rumors about the team that possibly traded before the deadline. Such a movement would have taken the white flag in this era of Suns Basketball, which was one of the most expensive in the NBA history. Because Mat Isbhia took over the owner of the Suns in February 2023, Phoenix had one of the most expensive payroll in the competition. The Sens’ $ 366.6 million payroll this season, including luxury tax fines, was the most expensive in the NBA according to Spotrac.
Yet that was not enough to get the Suns in the late season for a fifth consecutive year in 2024-25. Now the Suns will hire their fourth coach in four years, because the departure of Budenholzer will probably mean a big upcoming Roster -rotation for a team that has three consecutive seasons.
Budenholzer has 520-363 career record for 11 NBA seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Suns. I signed for five -year -old deal that was reported worth $ 50 million to become the head coach of the Suns last season.
The corresponding press contributes to this report.
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