bought the Suns for $4 billion<\/a> in December, did not waste much time before he fired Williams.<\/p>\nWilliams, a former NBA player, is considered a “players’ coach” and he developed a tight bond with his players. He never got on the same page with Ayton, and the two clashed last season. They worked out their differences in the offseason, but the rest of the team adored playing for Williams.<\/p>\n
“I love him,” said Durant. “He’s just a great teacher of the game. Great with people.”<\/p>\n
Shooting guard Devin Booker had a sensational run in the playoffs by averaging 33.7 points per game and shooting 50.8% from 3-point range. Durant put up decent numbers (29.0 points, 8.7 rebounds per game) in the playoffs, but the Suns lacked depth off the bench to compete with the Nuggets.<\/p>\n
Suns Emerged as West Favorite After the Durant Trade<\/h2>\n At the start of the regular season, the Sun were +1200 odds to win the championship after they offered Ayton a contract extension.<\/p>\n
Their odds narrowed to +900 in early November after a 6-1 start, but bottomed out at +2000 after a 1-9 stretch in January.<\/p>\n
Prior to the trade deadline, the Suns hovered around +1800 odds. After the addition of Durant in their blockbuster trade with the Nets, the Suns saw their title odds drastically jump to +450. They emerged as third-highest team on DraftKings futures board, trailing only the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks at the time, and became the top contender from the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
The Suns did not see much change in their odds after Durant sprained his ankle in early March shortly after joining his new team.<\/p>\n
At the end of the regular season, the Bucks took over as the consensus championship favorite heading into the playoffs at +265 odds. The Celtics were right behind the Bucks at +330 odds. The Suns maintained the third spot on the futures board at +425 odds to win the title.<\/p>\n
The Nuggets locked up the #1 seed in the Western Conference, yet they were the not betting favorite to win the conference. The Suns finished the season with a 45-37 record, and secured the #4 seed in the west. They were the consensus favorite to win the conference at +190 odds, and the Nuggets were second overall at +280.<\/p>\n
Who Wants to Coach the Suns?<\/h2>\n The Suns are expected to interview associate coach Kevin Young for the vacancy, but he lacks head coaching experience.<\/p>\n
Three head coaches who previously won an NBA championship are available: Nick Nurse, Mike Budenholzer, and Frank Vogel.<\/p>\n
Nurse won a title with the Toronto Raptors in the 2018-19 season, but he was recently let go after they missed the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Vogel won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season. The Lakers fired him at the end of last season after a disastrous season in which they failed to qualify for the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Milwaukee Bucks fired Budenholzer<\/a> after the top-seeded Bucks were upset in the first round by the #8 Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Budenholzer won a championship with the Bucks in the 2020-21 season, when he guided them to a victory over the Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals.<\/p>\nIf the Suns intended to keep Ayton, then they could hire Budenholzer to help Ayton reach his full potential. Budenholzer teamed up with Giannis Antetokounmpo to win a championship. More importantly, Antetokounmpo won the MVP in back-to-back years playing for Budenholzer. Ayton is not even close to being in the same category as Antetokounmpo, but Budenholzer has a proven track record in coaching talented and young big men.<\/p>\n
The Suns join the Detroit Pistons, Bucks, and Raptors as teams that are seeking a new head coach this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Phoenix Suns waited less than two days after an embarrassing exit from the playoffs before they fired head coach Monty Williams. Williams led the Suns to a trip to the 2021 NBA Finals. The Suns secured the best record in the NBA last season when they won a franchise-record of 64 wins in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":273445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83079,1074],"tags":[85224,86325,81033,82906,83092],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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