Report: Suns hire Mike Budenholzer as HC.

[Naero]

Mike Budenholzer has agreed to terms on a five-year, $50-plus million deal to become the new head coach of the Phoenix Suns, league sources tell
@TheAthletic @Stadium
. Suns land the two-time NBA Coach of the Year and Arizona native.

Source (https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1789060298638307690?s=46&t=hdbuRKYB1skdAvx_TZsWhA)

Bud’s stock unsurprisingly improved as the Bucks struggled during his sabbatical, and now he’s already back in the coaching scene.

Thoughts on how this’ll impact Phoenix’s title-contention aspirations? As much as I’ve criticized Bud’s oft-mulish decision-making in the playoffs, it’s hard for me to doubt they’ll improve in the regular season and defensively. Not to mention, the two-time CoY will have the most starpower he’s ever had so far.

[FultzNationRISE]

Im flabbergasted by this honestly.

Theyre gonna end up payin Vogel 30 million for one year of service, just to replace him with a guy who’s frankly very similar, for 50 million.

And they have very little roster flexibility if I understand correctly. Its gonna be the same team, with KD another year older and another year more apathetic. They do NOT have a championship lineup. No coach can fix their problems.

I gotta get Ishbia to toss me a quick million, I can have the same impact on this team’s results next year as Bud will.

[SouBeachTalents]

Source (https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1789060298638307690?s=46&t=hdbuRKYB1skdAvx_TZsWhA)

Bud’s stock unsurprisingly improved as the Bucks struggled during his sabbatical, and now he’s already back in the coaching scene.

Thoughts on how this’ll impact Phoenix’s title-contention aspirations? As much as I’ve criticized Bud’s oft-mulish decision-making in the playoffs, it’s hard for me to doubt they’ll improve in the regular season and defensively. Not to mention, the two-time CoY will have the most starpower he’s ever had so far.
I disagreed with your entire post, but the bolded is wild. I would easily take Giannis/Middleton/Jrue over Booker/Beal/36 year old KD. Like Fultz said, I'm skeptical this move changes anything, best case scenario they might win a playoff series.

[highwhey]

It won't move the needle. Suns fans are already excited about it and now discussing the potential of obtaining Valencenias...like the dude that is the carbon copy of Nurkic. All suns fans are idiots.

Anyone with an ounce of hoops know they should blow this shit up, including trading Booker...the non superstar-superstar. Grayson Allen was the only one with any dawg in him in that entire team. I called it.

[Jasper]

needs a PG for sure.

[BarberSchool]

Ishbia deserves to be the least profitable NBA team owner. Well on his way. I bet he also fires all his advisors before their terms are up. Wasting hundreds of millions, left wondering why he couldn’t just have instant gratification by buying it. What an absolute nebbishy little sucker that nobody respects, and everybody laughs at.

[highwhey]

Ishbia deserves to be the least profitable NBA team owner. Well on his way. I bet he also fires all his advisors before their terms are up. Wasting hundreds of millions, left wondering why he couldn’t just have instant gratification by buying it. What an absolute nebbishy little sucker that nobody respects, and everybody laughs at.

i mean he did a college title and owns the largest (or one of, enough to make dan gilbert jelous of him) mortgage companies out there.

his mistake was having isiah thomas as the shadow advisor and then running everything through james jones (who doesn't belong anywhere near an NBA exec office). actually he reigned in KD on his first day as owner, so maybe a lil too much mark cuban agressiveness before the chair got warm.

may be great at business...but he should have hired real professionals for this NBA stuff.

[highwhey]

for bud, this is an absolute win. 50 mill to coach for what, max 2 years before getting fired? and he's an arizona native so he'll be close to his roots. if it goes great for him (chances are slim) then awesome...if it goes bad (high probability) then he'll still get 50 mill at the end of the day.

[Axe]

Kd's sixth coach in the last six years. :eek:

[Duffy Pratt]

Most NBA teams treat coaches like primitive tribes treated chiefs who were unable to make it rain. The main difference is that getting paid millions for not working stings a lot less than getting killed and eaten.

[bladefd]

for bud, this is an absolute win. 50 mill to coach for what, max 2 years before getting fired? and he's an arizona native so he'll be close to his roots. if it goes great for him (chances are slim) then awesome...if it goes bad (high probability) then he'll still get 50 mill at the end of the day.

Exactly my thought. 2yrs. $25mill per year essentially after he gets fired in 2yrs. It's a riot of a deal!

[Wally450]

6 coaches in 6 years for KD I read.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Milwaukee screwed up firing him so good for him. I don't think he can make Phoenix champions at this stage of durant's career (he's going to be 36 with an Achilles in his past) but they could be very good if they make a trade like Beal for Smart plus 30 mil in player salary dump. That 30 mil could give them some depth and Smart gives them a point guard and leader, which they clearly missed without Chris Paul. Also a strong defender. Beal isn't going to be useful when he's only the second best SG on their team plus they have Grayson Allen making it so that something like 3 of the 5 best players on the team are shooting guards. A team that lacks depth yet still manages to be redundant with the talent that they have needs to make some trades.

[GimmeThat]

it all comes down to the top decision makers mindset, is it "I want results, I don't care who and how those productions come from", or if its "I have a certain play style in mind (a thing soon to be part of the ancient past), tell me what you need and get it done"

[Patrick Chewing]

All these recycled coaches. :oldlol:

[GimmeThat]

All these recycled coaches. :oldlol:

like a traveling chef with a stocked pantry

[bladefd]

Milwaukee screwed up firing him so good for him. I don't think he can make Phoenix champions at this stage of durant's career (he's going to be 36 with an Achilles in his past) but they could be very good if they make a trade like Beal for Smart plus 30 mil in player salary dump. That 30 mil could give them some depth and Smart gives them a point guard and leader, which they clearly missed without Chris Paul. Also a strong defender. Beal isn't going to be useful when he's only the second best SG on their team plus they have Grayson Allen making it so that something like 3 of the 5 best players on the team are shooting guards. A team that lacks depth yet still manages to be redundant with the talent that they have needs to make some trades.

Did you see Beal's contract? Years and money remaining. Why would anyone trade a player like smart for that?

[Real Men Wear Green]

Did you see Beal's contract? Years and money remaining. Why would anyone trade a player like smart for that?
Because he's a shooting guard and Smart is not. Memphis has a star point guard in Ja Morant and point guard is Smart's true position. At best his shooting is average and there will be a number of games where he isn't hitting shots and he is basically the guy you double off of. Offensively he's about as bad of a fit as you could have with Morant and a good player. Beal on the other hand even stick as a third option averaged 18 points and shoot 51% overall and 43%from three. He's still a very good offensive player. With an elevated role he will give Memphis over 20 points per game and they should be a playoff team. The salary cap is going to get a massive boost with the next set of tv deals plus owners are going to get hundreds of millions when the league expands. Worst case in two or three years he has a massive expiring deal. Best case Memphis has a second allstar.

[Norcaliblunt]

The Suns hired rookie coaches, drafted bums, signed or traded for no one noteworthy, didn’t make the playoffs for 10 straight years, were completely irrelevant, and the fans bitched while critics criticized.

Now the Suns hire veteran championship level coaches, say f the draft, bring in notable players, make the playoffs, are constantly discussed, and the fans bitch while critics criticize.

Lmao.

[highwhey]

The Suns hired rookie coaches, drafted bums, signed or traded for no one noteworthy, didn’t make the playoffs for 10 straight years, were completely irrelevant, and the fans bitched while critics criticized.

Now the Suns hire veteran championship level coaches, say f the draft, bring in notable players, make the playoffs, are constantly discussed, and the fans bitch while critics criticize.

Lmao.

they were perfect with mikal and cam and cp3. they should have let that develop. what don't idiots like you understand about that? disbanding the core that took them to the finals to do what has failed catastrophically multiple times for other teams: trade your core talent for 2 stars while having no depth. IT DOESN'T WORK.

look at the past teams that have won the title recently...warriors, nuggets, milwaukee....all in house developed talent, sure they made some trades for DEPTH, not to become top heavy.

[Norcaliblunt]

they were perfect with mikal and cam and cp3. they should have let that develop. what don't idiots like you understand about that? disbanding the core that took them to the finals to do what has failed catastrophically multiple times for other teams: trade your core talent for 2 stars while having no depth. IT DOESN'T WORK.

look at the past teams that have won the title recently...warriors, nuggets, milwaukee....all in house developed talent, sure they made some trades for DEPTH, not to become top heavy.


Uh CP3 is old as dirt and washed up, Bridges and Booker as your two best players are not winning a championship lol, and Cam Johnson while a decent player is not some game changer that puts you over the top. I understand other better deals could have been made, but that team was going nowhere. Dallas completely castrated that squad. Something was gonna happen and someone was going to go. Or yall would have been whining just like you are right now. Lmao.

Phoenix literally went 10 years without a playoff appearance or any semblance of relevancy. Just stfu.

[highwhey]

Uh CP3 is old as dirt and washed up, Bridges and Booker as your two best players are not winning a championship lol, and Cam Johnson while a decent player is not some game changer that puts you over the top. I understand other better deals could have been made, but that team was going nowhere. Dallas completely castrated that squad. Something was gonna happen and someone was going to go. Or yall would have been whining just like you are right now. Lmao.

Phoenix literally went 10 years without a playoff appearance or any semblance of relevancy. Just stfu.

"they were going nowhere"

*literally made a finals appearance*

it was their core, bad moves were made along the way like not selecting haliburton when it was clear they needed a younger PG, or selecting ayton over Luka. the front office killed this team. and no, ofc Booker and Mikal weren't ever going to win a title, but they were SIGNIFICANTLY better than the current team. and they were extremely young and green, of course they had shortcomings...that's why you let them develop and grow together so they can learn and overcome. you don't trade all your depth away including ALL your 1st round picks until 2030. KD already wanted to come here, they could have waited til the off season and kept Mikal and their depth.

[Charlie Sheen]

The Suns hired rookie coaches, drafted bums, signed or traded for no one noteworthy, didn’t make the playoffs for 10 straight years, were completely irrelevant, and the fans bitched while critics criticized.

Now the Suns hire veteran championship level coaches, say f the draft, bring in notable players, make the playoffs, are constantly discussed, and the fans bitch while critics criticize.

Lmao.

First point is an unfair characterization. Far as I remember Suns fans were criticizing Sarver...not the players...and they were right. Guy was a meddling owner and an even worse human being.

After the Suns got 2wins away from a championship of course there will be more eyes on them and people are gonna have greater expectations. Real hard hitting stuff you uncovered.

[Norcaliblunt]

First point is an unfair characterization. Far as I remember Suns fans were criticizing Sarver...not the players...and they were right. Guy was a meddling owner and an even worse human being.

After the Suns got 2wins away from a championship of course there will be more eyes on them and people are gonna have greater expectations. Real hard hitting stuff you uncovered.

What? Most Suns fans did not enjoy watching Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, the Morris twins, and top 10 lottery draft pick busts like Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Josh Jackson, and Alex Len. Oh and their big name veteran signings? Old washed Tyson Chandler and Trevor Ariza. Lol. They also were not too fond of coaches like Earl Watson, Igor whatever his name is, and Lindsey Hunter. Yeah no shit they hated Sarver the most but that goes without saying.

Even Booker, Ayton, Bridges, and Johnson weren't going anywhere before Chris Paul came. And that trade for Paul, half the fan base and critics didn’t like. Fools bitched back then about picking up Paul’s “ridiculous contract” at his age with his injury history.

The point is now Phoenix actually has an owner willing to spend, they arenÂ’t just developing bums through the draft, are bringing in decent high profile players that make the team relevant, hiring real vet coaches with experience, making the playoffs and the fans still bitch and moan like itÂ’s 2018. Shits comical.

[Charlie Sheen]

What? Most Suns fans did not enjoy watching Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, the Morris twins, and top 10 lottery draft pick busts like Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Josh Jackson, and Alex Len. Oh and their big name veteran signings? Old washed Tyson Chandler and Trevor Ariza. Lol. They also were not too fond of coaches like Earl Watson, Igor whatever his name is, and Lindsey Hunter. Yeah no shit they hated Sarver the most but that goes without saying.

Even Booker, Ayton, Bridges, and Johnson weren't going anywhere before Chris Paul came. And that trade for Paul, half the fan base and critics didn’t like. Fools bitched back then about picking up Paul’s “ridiculous contract” at his age with his injury history.

The point is now Phoenix actually has an owner willing to spend, they arenÂ’t just developing bums through the draft, are bringing in decent high profile players that make the team relevant, hiring real vet coaches with experience, making the playoffs and the fans still bitch and moan like itÂ’s 2018. Shits comical.

I agree they were not winning anything once cp3 entered steep decline.

My take...the earlier stuff like bled and draft picks was just a byproduct of Suns fans irrational love for Booker. That was always the argument for why he never got his due. That is no different than any other fan base who watched a kid they drafted grow into all nba. Everyone looks for reasons why their favorite played has not achieved team success. There is not a fanbase in the NBA who would not be disappointed if their team failed to build a proper team around a young star.

Now is a little different. KD was supposed to bring contending for titles with him. It appears last years WCF was the high water mark. The ride was over before it started. Think about it like buying a sports car... feels good for that first few weeks but then that feeling that you wish you had that money back to spend on something that was more reasonable.

This team was build on credit and the bill is coming due.

I would complain if the Lakers only had one CF appearance with Lebron James. I just don't get what is so unique about Suns fans being frustrate that shits comical.

[90sgoat]

I would easily take Giannis/Middleton/Jrue over Booker/Beal/36 year old KD. .

This.

Booker and particularly not Beal have not shown that they can convert their scoring into wins. Durant is cooked and keeps getting worse, because style of play stops the ball moving.