Rumored Suns frontrunner to replace Frank Vogel emerges quickly
By Lior Lampert
Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia decided he saw enough from head coach Frank Vogel to use him as a scapegoat and relieve him of his duties on Thursday after only one season at the helm. Now, it appears the franchise is wasting no time pivoting to his replacement, with a clear frontrunner emerging not even an hour after he got dismissed.
Two-time Coach of the Year and NBA champion Mike Budenholzer is the "most likely" candidate to fill the void left by Vogel, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports.
This coaching search will be nothing like last year when they initially had a list of 10 candidates and whittled it down to 3. There will only be 2-3 options with Budenholzer most likely and a decision will be quick - expect an announcement next week.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) May 9, 2024
Mike Budenholzer quickly emerges as frontrunner to replace Frank Vogel as Suns HC
Gambadoro notes that the Suns are not casting as wide of a net as they did during their coaching search last offseason, instead focusing on "2-3 options" and that a decision will be "quick" before adding that he anticipates a formal announcement to come "next week."
Budenholzer, a disciple of the Gregg Popovich coaching tree, spent 17 seasons as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs from 1996-2013 -- winning four championships. He was then named the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks in 2013, where he had a 213-197 record (including a 60-win effort in 2014-15) and led the franchise to four playoff appearances, including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
After five years, Budenholzer and the Hawks agreed to mutually part ways, paving the way for the former to become the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018 -- where he established himself as one of the premier sideline generals in the Association.
The only time the Bucks won less than 50 regular season games during Budenholzer's tenure was in 2020-21. They went 46-26 that year in a campaign that got reduced to 72 contests due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Milwaukee reached the postseason all five years he spent with the team, including two Conference Finals trips and an NBA championship title in 2020-21. His .693 winning percentage in that span would rank third among active head coaches, trailing only Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics and former Bucks shot-caller Adrian Griffin (who got fired after 43 contests).
Now, Budenholzer is on the precipice of being tasked with the daunting responsibility of coaching a Suns team that has virtually no ability to improve the roster after sinking all of their draft capital and financial resources into the current construct of the group.
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