Phoenix Suns throw a curveball, hire Frank Vogel to replace Monty Williams

The Phoenix Suns went in an unexpected direction with Frank Vogel emerging as the head coach hire to replace Monty Williams.

The Suns took the leap and fired Monty Williams this year after another embarrassing playoff exit. The hope was to find a head coach who would take them to the next level after Williams successfully brought the team up from scratch.

The end result? Hiring Frank Vogel, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. The two sides are finalizing a five-year, $31 million contract, per Shams Charania.

Yeah, that might not be what anyone was expected after initial links to Nick Nurse and Doc Rivers. Or even rumors that assistant coach Kevin Young was destined for the job.

It’s Frank Vogel and that’s….fine.

Suns hire Frank Vogel to replace Monty Williams

Vogel is a defense-minded head coach who has a championship ring to his name. He led the Lakers to the title in the NBA Playoff bubble in 2020 before being dumped by LA last year.

In that sense, he’s not at quite the same level as Nick Nurse, who was pretty obviously the team’s first choice. Not all championships are created equally, especially when you’ve got LeBron James and Anthony Davis available to you.

But if you can’t get your first choice, pivoting to someone like Vogel isn’t the worst plan, especially if it means avoiding a retread hire like Rivers. And Vogel is certainly more proven than an option like Young, who was reportedly also on the table.

Vogel has experience coaching superstars and he’ll have a couple available to him again in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

Vogel will be battling against the ready comparisons between his performance in Phoenix and that of Williams, who just signed on to coach the Pistons, and Nurse in Philadelphia.