Mike Budenholzer returned to the NBA this summer as the new Phoenix Suns head coach. With just a few weeks away from the 2024-25 NBA season’s start, Coach Bud spoke about finding success with his new team, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and his excitement for the new season.
Budenholzer is returning to the NBA after a year off. He sat out last season following being fired by the Milwaukee Bucks. The championship coach enjoyed a rather successful ride with the Bucks, winning a championship in 2021. Now, he will lead the Suns down that same hopeful road.
One thing Budenholzer knows he has going for him is superstars, which he spoke about while being interviewed by Steve Aschburner of the NBA. Focusing on Durant, Booker, and Bradley Beal, Budenholzer referred to a few different elements that can move the trio toward success as a group.
“…Putting the players in position to play together. Play fast. Compete at a high level. We need to compete defensively. And offensively, it means doing all the little things for each other. We have a ton of talent. It’s just finding ways for them to be their best selves.”
Regarding the All-Star trio and the Suns current roster, Budenholzer was excited to coach the talent he has available. As it sits, Durant and Booker are absolute superstars who just won gold in Paris. As for Beal, while he has struggled with injuries lately, he is healthy and ready to go. If the three-time All-Star reverts to anything close to the player he was in Washington, Budenholzer just might have something to work with in a Durant-Booker-Beal trio that failed to see life last season. He went on to praise Booker and Durant’s Olympic performance, expressing how proud of them he was.
“It was great for the whole basketball world, but especially for those of us in Phoenix to see what those two meant to that team. For Book to really embrace a role as kind of a “glue guy” – a guy who defended at a high level, who made big shots, who made big plays, and set the tone for the team getting off to good starts in big games – he was incredibly important to their success. And Kevin, the same. We’ve been seeing it from him for a lot of years with USA Basketball, and this summer was the same. We’re very proud of both.”
Budenholzer’s exit from Milwaukee was met with criticism and harsh reactions from many in the NBA media toward the organization. Despite the probably undeserved firing, he did not leave Milwaukee without learning to build some measure of success.
Budenholzer referenced talent when asked how he will instill success in Phoenix.
“The most important thing for NBA coaches to have success is to find what fits the talent of your team the best. That’s the challenge for me… there are things that will be specific to our talent and what we have in Phoenix. We have to maximize it.”
Budenholzer has no shortage of talent. In Milwaukee, he had a dominant lineup featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday. In Phoenix, his new lineup features Durant, Booker, Beal, Jusuf Nurkic, and Tyus Jones (his recently announced starting five lineup.) Budenholzer is in a great spot with the Suns and is in great spirits as he prepares to coach two superstars in Durant and Booker.
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For virtually the entire offseason, Miami Heat wing Andrew Wiggins has been associated in hypothetical trade after hypothetical trade with the Los Angeles Lakers. It's no secret the Lakers have been wanting to beef up their perimeter defense over the last few months. Marcus Smart was acquired to do just that — though the team still lacks a true/proven wing defender that can guard the 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-8 alpha scorers. Even with Smart's defensive reputation and credibility on that end of the floor, he's not overly athletic. More news: East Contender Predicted to Go All In for Lakers' LeBron James, Under One Condition Wiggins had been the perceived target for the Lakers despite no real concrete evidence that the team actually made a push to get him. Much of it seemed to be conjecture, along with the fit appearing to be a good one. As NBA reporter Brett Siegel revealed recently, the Heat were asking for a considerable amount in return for a 30-year-old player with one year left on his deal (not including a $30 million player option for 2026-27). Siegel said that the Heat wanted an instant-impact player and a first-round draft pick before 2028. The Lakers theoretically would've satisfied at least one of the requirements. LA has its 2026 and 2028 first-round picks to use in a potential deal. In terms of the instant-impact player, quibbling likely would be attributed to Dalton Knecht in this case. It's no secret Knecht has had a rough time in LA since being drafted. His play time was up and down (as was his consistency on the court). Knecht was then part of the Mark Williams trade, which was ultimately rescinded. He then had to rejoin the team and mentally bounce back in what was likely a very difficult situation for a young player to handle. To make matters worse, he had an awful Summer League performance in Vegas to the point where his standing as an instant-impact player would come into question. More news: Lakers Fans React to LeBron James’ Cleveland Return After Schedule Leak There wouldn't be a universe in which Austin Reaves is included in a deal with Wiggins being the primary player sent back. Rui Hachimura likely would've been the player in question — and even then, there's a real argument to be made that he's just as good, if not better than Wiggins at this current time, given their respective skill-sets and production levels. Latest Lakers News For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.
Oregon wide receiver Jurrion Dickey has struggled to live up to expectations in his first two seasons with the Ducks, and he is now in a terrible position heading into 2025 as well. Dickey has been suspended indefinitely by Oregon, head coach Dan Lanning announced on Tuesday. Lanning also suggested that Dickey may not play for the Ducks again. "We have two team rules; that’s respectful, be on time,” Lanning said, via James Crepea of The Oregonian. “There’s some pieces of that where I felt like he needed a break from us and we needed a break from that so we could focus on what’s in front of us right now. "Wishing him nothing but the best, as far as success and want to see him get back to where he can be a contributor somewhere; that might be here that might be somewhere else.” Dickey was a five-star recruit and rated as one of the top wide receivers in the country when he came out of Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, Calif., in 2023. He suffered an injury in his senior year in high school and redshirted as a freshman at Oregon. Dickey has two catches for 14 years during his time with the Ducks. Oregon went 13-1 in Lanning's third season with the program last season. The Ducks lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
The Green Bay Packers have a cause for concern with Jordan Love in the preseason. The quarterback suffered a thumb injury during the Packers' 30-10 loss to the New York Jets on Saturday. Love went 1-of-5 passing for seven yards and took a sack for -3 yards in the defeat. Both of his drives ended in punts. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, Love is set to have surgery on his thumb after seeing how it held up at practice on Monday. General manager Brian Gutekunst believes Love will be ready for Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. "Gutekunst sounded adamant that Love will be ready for Week 1 against the Lions," Schneidman wrote. "Hit his left hand on a helmet on that half-scramble vs. Jets. Wanted to see how it felt at practice yesterday and decided to get it fixed to avoid future issues. Will be with team in Indianapolis. "Brian Gutekunst says Jordan Love is having a procedure done on his left thumb. It’s a 'ligament thing.' Hurt it in the preseason opener. Gutekunst hopes he returns to practice next week." The injury comes at an inopportune time for the Packers. Love and the majority of his receivers have not been in sync during training camp and in the preseason game. Like last season, Packers' receivers have dropped passes during practices and did so in the preseason opener against the Jets. Green Bay needs Love on the field, gaining chemistry with his pass-catching targets, including first-round pick Matthew Golden, before it plays the Lions.
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes may continue to be one of the top contenders for the National League Cy Young Award, but there is one place where he has appeared mortal this season. On Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Brewers did to Skenes what they have done to plenty of MLB pitchers in 2025 ... put up big offensive numbers. For the second time this season (Skenes also pitched in Milwaukee on June 25), the Brewers forced him from the game after just 4.0 innings on Tuesday night, logging six hits and four runs during his time on the mound. Both of those performances came at Milwaukee's home stadium (American Family Field) and both are now Skenes' shortest outings of the season. While another NL Central team has put up more runs against Skenes this season (the St. Louis Cardinals nicked him for five runs in 6.0 innings on April 8), no other team has had the same kind of success over multiple starts by Skenes in 2025 as have the Brewers inside their home stadium. In all this season, Skenes has given up 10 hits and eight runs in 8.0 innings in Milwaukee. It was his third career outing on the road against the Brewers, with his lone 2024 start representing arguably the best outing of his rookie season. On July 11, 2024, Skenes struck out 11 and didn't allow a hit over 7.0 innings as the Pirates would eventually post a 1-0 victory. Tuesday's short outing was highlighted by a pair of Milwaukee home runs, including a leadoff solo shot by Sal Frelick that quickly set the tone for the Brewers. While Milwaukee's hit parade helped raise Skenes' ERA on the season to 2.13, it's hardly any reason for concern in a season where the 23-year-old right-hander is still a heavy favorite (-600) to win the NL Cy Young Award, per BetMGM. Skenes struggling in Milwaukee is likely more yet another stamp of approval on the Brewers' potential to be a threat once the postseason arrives. With an 18-4 record since the All-Star break entering Tuesday, Milwaukee has taken over the NL Central race from the Chicago Cubs. So what's the good news for Skenes? This is Pittsburgh's last trip to Milwaukee this season and the next-to-last series for the Pirates against the red-hot Brewers. Milwaukee will visit PNC Park for a three-game series on Sept. 5-7, and if Skenes gets a chance for revenge against Milwaukee, there couldn't be a better place for him to take the mound. This season, in 11 starts covering 68.2 innings, Skenes has a 1.70 ERA in the Steel City.