The Phoenix Suns entered the 2023-24 NBA season with hopes a roster that includes Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and 2020 NBA Finals-winning coach Frank Vogel was primed for a deep playoff run.
However Phoenix was swept in 4 video games within the first spherical of the NBA playoffs. Lower than two weeks after the early postseason exit, the Suns determined to fireplace Vogel after only one season.
“As we mentioned on the press convention Might 1, crew management, together with myself, Josh Bartelstein and possession can be wanting throughout basketball operations to find out what modifications wanted to be made,” Suns normal supervisor James Jones mentioned in an announcement.
“After a considerate assessment of the season, we concluded that we would have liked a unique head coach for our crew. We admire Frank’s onerous work and dedication.”
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Head Coach Frank Vogel of the Los Angeles Lakers throughout a sport towards the Denver Nuggets April 10, 2022, on the Ball Enviornment in Denver, Colo. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures)
ESPN reported that Mike Budenholzer, who led the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 NBA title, could possibly be one of many main candidates to switch Vogel. The Bucks fired Budenholzer in Might 2023 after the crew was eradicated within the first spherical of the playoffs. He didn’t coach this season.
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The Suns completed this season with a 49-33 report and entered the postseason as a sixth seed.
Vogel signed a five-year cope with the Suns in June. He was employed after the franchise parted methods with Monty Williams after Phoenix’s loss within the Western Convention semifinals to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel applauds his gamers throughout the first half of Sport 4 of a first-round playoff collection towards the Minnesota Timberwolves April 28, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photograph/Ross D. Franklin)
When the Suns had been nonetheless alive within the playoffs, Vogel mentioned he was “very” assured he can be retained for the 2024-25 season and that he had “full assist” of crew proprietor Matt Ishbia.
Vogel beforehand served as head coach for the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers.
Head coach Frank Vogel of the Phoenix Suns talks to the media after a playoff sport towards the Minnesota Timberwolves April 23, 2024, at Goal Middle in Minneapolis. (Jordan Johnson/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures)
The following Suns coach will presumably work carefully with Jones and the remainder of the entrance workplace to discover a strategy to rework the crew’s hefty payroll right into a championship contender. The Suns carry $209 million into the offseason, the best payroll within the league.
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The group might transfer some key gamers this offseason to cut back its payroll and luxurious tax payments.
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