Phoenix Suns
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The Phoenix Suns have an All-Star trio, but you wouldn’t know it from their recent play on the court, missing the postseason entirely. Falling well short of expectations has caused organizational turmoil, with the Suns replacing their head coach for the second offseason in a row.
Previously, the Suns hired two proven, former NBA championship winners. How can they do better than Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer? Well, the Suns intend to try.
According to ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania, the Suns are already down to their final two head coaching candidates. Interestingly enough, they’re both from the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’ve also never been an NBA head coach before, which would be drastically different from their previous two head coaching candidates.
Basically, it’s down to either Cavs associate coach Johnnie Bryant or assistant Jordan Ott. The two are scheduled to meet with Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia, CEO Josh Bartelstein and general manager Brian Gregory later this week.
While these two candidates may seem less qualified than a few other potential solutions, the Suns started by interviewing 15 different candidates before narrowing down their choices to five and now two.
The Suns have even incorporated Devin Booker into their coaching search, a strong sign that the four-time All-Star won’t be departing via trade this offseason. It also gives the Suns a chance to ensure Booker is on board with the new hire. For all we know, that could be how the Suns narrowed down their options to a pair of Cavs assistants.
Related: NBA insider reveals five finalists for Phoenix Suns’ head coaching job