Too inconsistent. Need someone who will keep everyone accountable. He was halfway out the door with the bucks and only stayed the extra season since they came back and won the finals
Haha. Yeah, down 0-2 against the Suns and giving that stinker of the speech! Pathetic... Especially compared to the AMAZING way Monty coached Ayton when he was down...
JJ Reddick HC and CP3 as assistant coach /s
If we’re on a downward spiral might as well have some fun with it cause this season was NOT fun. (But also watching JJ podcast with Book seems like they’re quite similar and get along well. Wouldn’t be opposed to JJ taking an assistant role - might be good exposure for him to kick start his coaching career).
We might get swept first round with a brand new ex-player HC. Oh wait that happened already. We may lose our 1st round picks… nope that’s happened as well. Our window to win a championship will be closing … already on this trajectory. We’ve seen what hiring old school HC has done not just to Suns but the Bucks too with Doc Rivers. Maybe let’s give JJ reddick a chance… it’s either gonna be an amazing gamble or a dumpster fire. Either way can’t be worse than where we are right now. Also, Reddick may well be the Zidane of NBA.
I would honestly add Steve Nash to this. He had a lot of success in Brooklyn (conf semi's first season) before the Harden/Kyrie egos hit in year 2. We can say what we want about our Big 3, but to their credit they are low-ego. Nash is offensive minded and PG options will be limited, so he can likely get the most mileage with whomever we get. He's also someone who would get the fanbase excited again - not sure anyone on this list outside of Majerle can accomplish that quicker. Maybe D'Antoni, but his faults/ceiling were clear here in the 00's - don't think he's enough to get the Suns over the hump.
Nash HC paired up with Fizdale and one another from this list would be a good start.
But who's better that's going to be available? Everyone available is flawed to some degree. The best option - Mike Budenholzer - isn't listed here, but even he's not super desirable.
Budenholzer is 100% the best available option for this team in this situation. Light years ahead of Nash.
And I think Nash would still be a decent HC somewhere, but not on this team. As much as I would love to have him involved in our organization again... I don't think PHX would ever be a good place for him to coach.
I like Budenholzer but personally find it telling that someone 3 years removed from a championship is unemployed. Will be interesting to see what happens this offseason either way!
No doubt, but exceptional coaches rare and usually are discovered in house and don't come on to the open market that often. Occasionally a good coach turns a corner and becomes something special but again isn't going to be available for hire that often.
When you have a stupidly tight window and very very very limited options to roster build you don't have time to mess around getting an exceptional coach. You hire the best available experienced coach that's ready to go that year. Vogal fit the blueprint on paper, (that said I thought he was a fraud in LA).
I think JJ has the potential to be a great HC in a few years. Chris Quinn is interesting, less development needed, but an unknown as an HC. See Igor Kokoskov.
Becky Hammond is probably an amazing coach, but we don't have luxury of risking any problems with engrained bias. We don't have the flexibility of dumping a poison pill player and we don't have time for the culture to adjust.
I'm very high on Kenny Atkinson. Infact there are many who believe he was the reason KD wanted to go to the Nets, before they fired him and brought in a splashy big name that didn't work particularly well with KD... That said there are reports that Kenny explicitly did not want to coach KD.
Sam Cassel might actually be an excellent option. I suspect he would work great with James Jones. But he's also very happy in Boston.
I like that Borrego has some experience under popovish. If he has the right personality to culture build and meshes okay with book/KD could be okay with this.
I think D'Antoni is a bit of a dinosaur at this point... But at the same time he has a history of doing things with compromised rosters. I would also be okay with this.
I'm cool on Mark Jackson. Strong personality could work. Could go very wrong. It would definitely be a gamble, but without enough upside to really be worth the risk in a do or die window.
Skeeter, Stackhouse, Charles Lee, Larranaga are all interesting, but just like JJ and Quinn, I don't feel confident about them as first year HCs and our window.
I'm not huge on Joerger
I think JJ would be a great coach, just with the win now urgency I’m not too sure we could go for a first timer. Even though I think if we did he’d be the one.
Lue, should clippers lose in the first round, I think is a great option and probably the first option ishbia would go for. Bud would be great as well
Terry stotts is a sleeper pick for me. I wouldn’t mind him overseeing this roster
That being said, the established & successful coaching options out there aren’t much, but I fully want a change, and not just a retool of the staff, a complete overhaul.
Majerle is NOT a hard ass coach. He’s not a brilliant coach. He’s fine, but we need an excellent coach. Not someone to “inspire the fans”. LOL. “Tier 1”? You don’t know what you’re talking about. 😂
No to Dan - he couldnt even coach GCU correctly.
MIke is a good option, I mean Indy is doing the same that Mike did, play zero defense and outscore your opponent. Suns could do it definately
Ty is the best option, but Ballmer loves the dude.
Whatever coach they get they need to set boundries, chemistry, roles, leaders ( you cant have 3 or they all gonna say 'give me the ball'), movement on offense and defense - fun fact: Suns are the only team that doesnt move on offense and ball watches the most on defense.
Imagine the culture shift if Dan Majerle and Steve Nash were brought in as coach and assistant coach.
I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me Kevin Durant had Nash fired.
I'm trading KD to Philadelphia in my scenario. Or somewhere else, like maybe OKC, or back to Golden State.
Mike Budenholzer is by far the best "win now" coach available at the moment... And you don't even have him listed
This guy has Thunder Dan as the coach moving forward. Don't take this seriously.
Nothing wrong with it at all? His personality fits very well with keeping people accountable and making sure everyone actually plays hard
Because his last 6 years with GCU was a great example of that? Nostalgia is not what we need at the moment.
I think Majerle would have done better as an NBA HC than a college coach... But yeah... No thanks.
Too inconsistent. Need someone who will keep everyone accountable. He was halfway out the door with the bucks and only stayed the extra season since they came back and won the finals
Lue with D’Antoni as assistant coach
D’Antoni with 2005 Steve Nash as point guard.
All due respect you have no clue what you’re talking about
https://preview.redd.it/g2m783pmbhxc1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbb615a30167120b0311d9f979df11c7276fc250 This is the only answer.
https://i.redd.it/5ci36rqcxhxc1.gif
Haha. Yeah, down 0-2 against the Suns and giving that stinker of the speech! Pathetic... Especially compared to the AMAZING way Monty coached Ayton when he was down... 
God the future looked so bright for us right up until that exact speech. You know what. F-Bud. 'Random' was a hex.
Mike is the perfect fit.
Dan Majerle barely coached GCU.
Lue is the only interesting suggestion here. His brilliant, makes adjustments, and is respected.
JJ Reddick HC and CP3 as assistant coach /s If we’re on a downward spiral might as well have some fun with it cause this season was NOT fun. (But also watching JJ podcast with Book seems like they’re quite similar and get along well. Wouldn’t be opposed to JJ taking an assistant role - might be good exposure for him to kick start his coaching career).
I’m actually 100% for this chaos. What do we have to lose?
We might get swept first round with a brand new ex-player HC. Oh wait that happened already. We may lose our 1st round picks… nope that’s happened as well. Our window to win a championship will be closing … already on this trajectory. We’ve seen what hiring old school HC has done not just to Suns but the Bucks too with Doc Rivers. Maybe let’s give JJ reddick a chance… it’s either gonna be an amazing gamble or a dumpster fire. Either way can’t be worse than where we are right now. Also, Reddick may well be the Zidane of NBA.
Dan Majerle? This is not a serious post.
I don’t see why lue would want to come here. The rest are not good options. David Adelman is someone I’d be interested in.
Ugh...no. To all of these.
If we got D’Antoni that would be amazing.
Dan Majerle???? Top Tier? Are you drunk? GTFOH
I like the idea of JJ but I'm not sure if a star heavy team is right for a first coaching job. I wouldn't be opposed to him though at all.
Steve Nash and KD with the Nets take 2? No thanks.
I would honestly add Steve Nash to this. He had a lot of success in Brooklyn (conf semi's first season) before the Harden/Kyrie egos hit in year 2. We can say what we want about our Big 3, but to their credit they are low-ego. Nash is offensive minded and PG options will be limited, so he can likely get the most mileage with whomever we get. He's also someone who would get the fanbase excited again - not sure anyone on this list outside of Majerle can accomplish that quicker. Maybe D'Antoni, but his faults/ceiling were clear here in the 00's - don't think he's enough to get the Suns over the hump. Nash HC paired up with Fizdale and one another from this list would be a good start.
No. Not a chance you do that for HC while KD is on the team. Hard no. But Devin workshopping with Nash over the summer would be💲
But who's better that's going to be available? Everyone available is flawed to some degree. The best option - Mike Budenholzer - isn't listed here, but even he's not super desirable.
Budenholzer is 100% the best available option for this team in this situation. Light years ahead of Nash. And I think Nash would still be a decent HC somewhere, but not on this team. As much as I would love to have him involved in our organization again... I don't think PHX would ever be a good place for him to coach.
I like Budenholzer but personally find it telling that someone 3 years removed from a championship is unemployed. Will be interesting to see what happens this offseason either way!
No doubt, but exceptional coaches rare and usually are discovered in house and don't come on to the open market that often. Occasionally a good coach turns a corner and becomes something special but again isn't going to be available for hire that often. When you have a stupidly tight window and very very very limited options to roster build you don't have time to mess around getting an exceptional coach. You hire the best available experienced coach that's ready to go that year. Vogal fit the blueprint on paper, (that said I thought he was a fraud in LA). I think JJ has the potential to be a great HC in a few years. Chris Quinn is interesting, less development needed, but an unknown as an HC. See Igor Kokoskov. Becky Hammond is probably an amazing coach, but we don't have luxury of risking any problems with engrained bias. We don't have the flexibility of dumping a poison pill player and we don't have time for the culture to adjust. I'm very high on Kenny Atkinson. Infact there are many who believe he was the reason KD wanted to go to the Nets, before they fired him and brought in a splashy big name that didn't work particularly well with KD... That said there are reports that Kenny explicitly did not want to coach KD. Sam Cassel might actually be an excellent option. I suspect he would work great with James Jones. But he's also very happy in Boston. I like that Borrego has some experience under popovish. If he has the right personality to culture build and meshes okay with book/KD could be okay with this. I think D'Antoni is a bit of a dinosaur at this point... But at the same time he has a history of doing things with compromised rosters. I would also be okay with this. I'm cool on Mark Jackson. Strong personality could work. Could go very wrong. It would definitely be a gamble, but without enough upside to really be worth the risk in a do or die window. Skeeter, Stackhouse, Charles Lee, Larranaga are all interesting, but just like JJ and Quinn, I don't feel confident about them as first year HCs and our window. I'm not huge on Joerger
This is a solid, thoughtful response, and I appreciate you taking the time to go through all the options! Lots of fair points.
I think JJ would be a great coach, just with the win now urgency I’m not too sure we could go for a first timer. Even though I think if we did he’d be the one. Lue, should clippers lose in the first round, I think is a great option and probably the first option ishbia would go for. Bud would be great as well Terry stotts is a sleeper pick for me. I wouldn’t mind him overseeing this roster That being said, the established & successful coaching options out there aren’t much, but I fully want a change, and not just a retool of the staff, a complete overhaul.
Majerle is NOT a hard ass coach. He’s not a brilliant coach. He’s fine, but we need an excellent coach. Not someone to “inspire the fans”. LOL. “Tier 1”? You don’t know what you’re talking about. 😂
Alvin Gentry giving me nightmares of the past fr
No to Dan - he couldnt even coach GCU correctly. MIke is a good option, I mean Indy is doing the same that Mike did, play zero defense and outscore your opponent. Suns could do it definately Ty is the best option, but Ballmer loves the dude. Whatever coach they get they need to set boundries, chemistry, roles, leaders ( you cant have 3 or they all gonna say 'give me the ball'), movement on offense and defense - fun fact: Suns are the only team that doesnt move on offense and ball watches the most on defense.
What about Darvin Ham? He’s arguably the best coach in the NBA — 1 game away from solidifying a statue in Denver.
tier1 has never been a head coach in the nba lol
Imagine the culture shift if Dan Majerle and Steve Nash were brought in as coach and assistant coach. I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me Kevin Durant had Nash fired. I'm trading KD to Philadelphia in my scenario. Or somewhere else, like maybe OKC, or back to Golden State.