Getty Kevin Durant #35 of the Phoenix Suns high fives Bradley Beal #3 and Devin Booker #1.
The Phoenix Suns hired former NBA champion coach Mike Budenholzer on Friday, May 10, as their third head coach in as many seasons, per multiple reports.
But can Budenholzer solve the Suns’ problems that Frank Vogel failed, leading to their first-round sweep and his subsequent firing?
“No,” ESPN analyst Michael Wilbon emphatically said on “NBA Countdown” on May 10 before Game 3 between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. “No, Red Auerbach wouldn’t solve their biggest problems. Phil Jackson wouldn’t solve their biggest problems. Pat Riley wouldn’t solve their biggest problems. No, their roster is flawed. [It’s] fatally flawed they don’t have the pieces on this team.”
Wilbon pinned Phoenix’s playoff woes to having no floor general on the court to direct their Big Three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal who all need the ball in their hands to be effective.
“This is what happened all year,” Wilbon continued. “People want to blame one of these guys or two or the three. No, they don’t have a person to run and organize that team in the moments that matter most in games — fourth quarter, in crunch time, they don’t have it. Not on the roster.”
Wilbon can only think of one solution to Suns’ biggest problem.
“Now if [Budenholzer] comes in and they make a substantive change — I’m not talking about subtle changes,” Wilbon said. “I’m not talking about end of the bench or even depth — I’m talking about primary roster alteration. Can they do that? How do they do it? They have to trade one of those guys.”
Mat Ishbia Won’t Blow up Big 3
Suns owner Mat Ishbia exuded confidence on their roster despite their embarrassing first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Ask the other 29 GMs— 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks and everything as is,” Ishbia said during his end-of-season interview on May 1. “The house is not on fire. We’re in great position. It’s not hard to fix. It’s not like we’re like, ‘Hey, we don’t have enough talent to win a championship.’ We have enough talent to win a championship.”
Money isn’t a problem for Ishbia, who lavishly signed Budenholzer to a five-year deal worth more than $50 million, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The Suns still owe Vogel roughly $25 million after firing him one season into his five-year, $31 million contract he signed last summer.
But Ishbia’s spending power is capped by the new restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Suns enter the offseason as the top second apron team with the biggest payroll in the league — $209 million in salaries, including $150 million to their Big Three.
Second Apron Shrinks Suns’ Options
If the Suns stood pat and not blow up their Big Three, Suns president James Jones and his front office need to get creative to fill the so many holes on their roster, which includes a point guard, a defensive wing and bench depth.
As a second apron team, the Suns cannot acquire a player via sign-and-trade, aggregate contracts in a trade for one player, cannot trade for more salaries than they send out and cannot use their midlevel and trade exceptions.