The NBA coaching frenzy continues, after the Suns announced Thursday that they fired Frank Vogel and reported that the franchise is hiring former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer.
The decision was made after Phoenix was embarrassingly swept in the first round of the playoffs at the hands of Minnesota.
“As we said in a press conference on May 1, team leadership including myself, Josh Bartelstein, and ownership will look at all basketball operations to determine what changes need to be made,” Suns general manager James Jones said in a statement. “After thinking carefully about the season, we have concluded that we need a different coach in our team. We appreciate Frank's hard work and dedication.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that “Mike Budenholzer has been targeted by the Suns to replace Vogel and negotiations are expected to move quickly. …
Vogel was signed to a five-year, $31 million contract last June and during his time with the Suns he had a 49-33 record.
“Vogel had four years left on his contract, and the cost of earning $200 million and above is increasing as there is $20 million left on Vogel's contract and it is expected to be a lot of money for a high-level coach available on the market,” said Woj.
The 54-year-old Budenholzer is a two-season NBA head coach, including the 2014-2015 season and the 2018-2019 season. He guided the Bucks to a championship in 2021.
“We are here to win the title and last season we were far below our expectations,” said Jones. “We will continue to evaluate our performance and make the necessary changes to achieve our success goals. We all take responsibility, and it's my job, too [CEO Josh Bartelstein] and ownership, building a championship team.”
READ MORE: LeBron James laments 'Missed Opportunities' in series against Nuggets
Source link
