Suns fire HC Monty Williams after latest playoff elimination

Three months after his blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant, Ishbia made his second big move as Suns owner. Two days after Phoenix lost an elimination game at home by 30 points for the second straight year, Ishbia dismissed head coach Monty Williams.

Williams is the second high-ranking member of the organization to depart since Ishbia bought the team from controversial former owner Robert Sarver, who’d been suspended for a year by the NBA. CEO Jason Rowley resigned just after Ishbia’s purchase, a clear sign Ishbia wanted his own people in place.

After leading the Suns to the NBA Finals in 2021, and winning NBA Coach of the Year in 2022 after a 64-win season, Williams has been ignominiously fired. Although Denver was the top seed, and Phoenix lost Chris Paul to injury, a second straight second-round exit was apparently too much for Ishbia.

Williams joins Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer as NBA Finals coaches from the last four years who are out of a job. Reaching the Finals or even winning a title doesn’t guarantee much job security in the NBA anymore, although all three of those coaches should be top candidates for open head coach jobs.

The Suns’ lack of depth was exposed against the Nuggets, although that was created by the Durant trade, not Williams’ actions. But Ishbia seems determined to remake the team, as center Deandre Ayton is on the trade block, as is Paul and his partially-guaranteed deal.

Should GM James Jones also be worried? Ishbia is close with Isiah Thomas, though in February he denied there was a role with the Suns for Thomas “at this time”. 

However, May is not the same time as February. Could Thomas be leading the post-Sarver Suns? If Ishbia fired Williams, why not a general manager he also didn’t hire?

The new owner seems to surround himself with basketball people from Michigan. Thomas is his friend. Former Ishbia Michigan State teammate Mateen Cleaves was in attendance at Suns playoff games and worked for Ishbia’s mortgage brokerage firm. Could Tom Izzo be lured from the Spartans to the NBA by his old player?

There’s going to be a lot of changes around Durant, Devin Booker and Ishbia this summer. Head coach might just be the beginning.