Could Dan Majerle enter the mix to be Phoenix Suns head coach?

After firing Earl Watson on Sunday, could the Phoenix Suns turn to Dan Majerle as their next head coach?

After losing their first three games this season, and two by a total of 90 points, the Phoenix Suns fired head coach Earl Watson on Sunday. Watson had a 33-85 record as Suns coach since taking over during the 2015-16 season, but the team was not expecting to win a lot of games this season.

Assistant coach Jay Triano will likely take over as interim head coach, presumably for the rest of the season. But a search for a more permanent option is coming, and it’s still early enough to open up one intriguing possibility.

Dan Majerle is entering his fifth season as head coach at Grand Canyon University, with a 49-16 record (22-6 in the WAC) over the last two seasons. He of course made his name as an NBA player with the Suns, under the moniker “Thunder Dan.” He was also an assistant coach with the Suns from 2008-2013, and calls the community home as a bar/restaurant owner.

The Suns are in the midst of a rebuild that has no real end in sight, and Watson was known to have some issues with general manager Ryan McDonaugh. Finding a coach that can be on the same page, or at least amicably co-exist with, the general manager would obviously be better for the Suns long-term.

There’s little doubt Majerle will be getting a call from the Suns at some point. The big question is if he wants to bail on the program he has built at Grand Canyon, possibly right before a new season starts, and take on a rebuild in the NBA.

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Money often talks in these situations, and an NBA coaching gig pays better than a lower-level college job. But Majerle also has unique ties to the Suns’ organization and the Phoenix area, which makes him the proverbial “perfect candidate” to try to lead the Suns back to glory. The ball quite literally is in Majerle’s court, or it will be soon.