By Shams Charania, Doug Haller and Eric Nehm
The Phoenix Suns plan to hire Milwaukee Bucks champion Mike Budenholzer as their coach on a deal expected to approach eight figures per year, league sources said Friday.
The Suns are expected to offer lead assistant David Fizdale a new front office role, but a source briefed on Fizdale’s thinking indicated he is currently not expected to accept it.
The Phoenix Suns plan to hire Bucks champion Mike Budenholzer as their head coach on deal expected to approach eight figures per year, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The Holbrook, Ariz., native will be tasked with optimizing Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal. pic.twitter.com/eWFMedRNA2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 10, 2024
The news comes a day after Phoenix fired coach Frank Vogel following a season marred by struggles with health and consistency. The team’s campaign ended on April 28 with a first-round sweep to the Minnesota Timberwolves after the Suns went 49-33 in the regular season.
Budenholzer quickly emerged as the leading candidate to replace Vogel. He led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA championship and the team won the division title in all five of his seasons in Milwaukee.
With Phoenix, Budenholzer will be tasked with optimizing Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Under Vogel, locker room frustration mounted in his single season as injuries hindered the “Big 3” and a lack of bench depth hurt the Suns in the postseason.
Effectively utilizing Booker, Durant and Beal remains a priority for Phoenix, as the team has $150 million locked into the star trio next season.
Budenholzer’s Phoenix connection
There’s a storybook element to this. Budenholzer grew up in Holbrook, Ariz., a town of about 5,000 located three hours northeast of Phoenix. A Suns fan, he listened to famed broadcaster Al McCoy call games on the radio and practiced the moves of Suns players in his backyard. Since he’s reached the NBA, Budenholzer has been connected to the Phoenix franchise for years.
At age 54, he gets his chance. It won’t be easy but there’s room for growth. The Suns underachieved last season, winning 49 regular-season games. The roster needs work. Phoenix last season lacked a true point guard, defensive stoppers and depth, problems that will be difficult to address given its top-heavy salary structure. But the “Big 3” is a great starting point and will need to be maximized.
Budenholzer comes from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree. He has experience coaching stars, which will pay off here. He also has a strong offensive background. His teams have relied on spacing and ball movement. They’ve also put up a lot of 3s. Whether the Suns can win a championship with this group is debatable, but it was too soon to break it up and start over. This hire provides a better chance. Maybe the last one. — Doug Haller, Arizona senior writer
Can Budenholzer maximize Suns’ potential?
In 2021, Budenholzer led the Bucks to the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1971 by putting together a system that blended the talents of the Bucks’ “Big 3” of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. In Phoenix, he will be expected to do the same thing with Beal, Booker and Durant. Both trios share a common thread in not having a true pass-first point guard, but none of the Suns offer the physical dominance of Antetokounmpo. So, it will be an interesting experiment for Budenholzer on the offensive end.
While Budenholzer has long been seen as an innovative offensive mind considering the success of his five-out spacing with the Atlanta Hawks and Bucks, the strength of his teams has often been built around strong defensive units with Budenholzer-led teams typically finishing in the top 10 in defensive efficiency. That is going to be a tougher test in Phoenix as none of the team’s “Big 3” are known as elite defenders at this point in their careers, even though Durant has shown that ability throughout his career, and the roster is not necessarily known for its defensive excellence.
For Budenholzer to get the Suns in the championship picture, the team is going to need a complete tactical makeover and he is going to need to find a way to get the most out of all three members of the team’s “Big 3” while also keeping them healthy for an entire season. It will be the toughest test of his career. — Eric Nehm, Bucks senior writer
Required reading
- Phoenix Suns had no choice but to fire Frank Vogel, but don’t let owner Mat Ishbia off the hook
- State of the Phoenix Suns: Is the house burning or are they closer than it looks?
(Photo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)