Report: Suns will take ‘hard look’ at coaching change
After being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs, Phoenix Suns first-year head coach Frank Vogel could already be seeing the door.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Suns are expected to make a “hard look” at a coaching change and, at bare minimum, possible “adjustments” to the coaching staff. Vogel was hired on a five-year, $31 million deal last offseason, replacing Monty Williams, who eventually ended up in Detroit for record money.
“The potential changes regarding Vogel or his staff come less than one year after Vogel was brought into Phoenix,” the report read. “Vogel’s first year with the Suns came with heightened expectations as Phoenix entered its first full season with Kevin Durant flanked by All-Star teammates Devin Booker and newly-acquired Bradley Beal. But Phoenix struggled with health and consistency all season, finishing the regular season 49-33.”
The Suns finished as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, sandwiched between the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans. They capped off the regular season by winning six of their last eight and 11 of their last 16 regular season contests, but got completely undressed by Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves in the first round of the 2023-24 playoffs.
As we know, the coach is typically the first fall guy, but the Suns’ roster is flawed and poorly constructed. After acquiring Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause, for pennies on the dollar last offseason, the Suns flew into the second apron. They made improvements relative to the back-end of last year’s roster, but they were nowhere near enough to get Phoenix over the hump.
There’s now no conceivable out, now they’re in the second apron. Phoenix can’t aggregate players in trades, can’t take back more salary than it sends out in a trade, won’t have any access to their mid-level exception (projected ~$12.9 million) and can only sign draft picks (they don’t have any) and free agents (who aren’t their own) to minimum contracts only.
Vogel is in a tough position, but so is the next head coach who walks through that door, should he get canned. Booker, Durant and Beal are dynamic shotmakers, but don’t exactly complement one another offensively. Phoenix also doesn’t have a fortified back-line defensively–outside of Royce O’Neale, who’s now a free agent–to mitigate any shortcomings from their aforementioned trio.
Durant will also be 36-years-old by the time next season starts and Beal–who’s missed 36.1 percent of his team’s games over the last four seasons–will be 31-years-old. That’s a problem. Booker’s just now reaching his prime, but he can’t be the lone savior.
Regardless if its X’s and O’s or Jimmys and Joes, Phoenix has many more issues to solve beyond its coach–and whether any of them are solved is the biggest question it faces this offseason.
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