Suns could fire third coach in three seasons

Sam Amico of Hoops Wire reported that the Suns are prepared to fire head coach Mike Budenholzer to appease stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. That would be the third straight summer that the team had dismissed its head coach, all since its blockbuster trade for Durant in 2023.

Last season, owner Mat Ishbia fired Frank Vogel, who won a championship in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He hired Budenholzer, who won a championship over the Suns in 2021, defeating Phoenix's Monty Williams, who was fired in 2023.

The Suns are still paying Vogel, who still has more than three years left on the $31M contract he signed before the 2023-24 season. Should Phoenix fire Budenholzer, it'll be on the hook for the remainder of his five-year deal for more than $50M. It'd still be paying Williams had he not taken a job coaching the Pistons — who also fired him after one season.

The Suns have a payroll of $214M and are looking at luxury-tax penalties of more than $150M this season for a team that's in 11th place in the Western Conference. Not only has the team disappointed, but Budenholzer has clashed with his stars. On Sunday, Durant snapped at Budenholzer on the bench during Phoenix's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

But that's been a theme with Durant and all of his recent coaches. Since joining the Brooklyn Nets before the 2019-20 season, Durant has seen four of his head coaches get fired: Kenny Atkinson, Steve Nash, Williams and Vogel. At some point, teams need to stop blaming the coach when Durant's teams have underachieved five years in a row.

Ishbia doesn't seem concerned with his massive tax bill or his bill for fired coaches. Still, anyone who takes over the Suns should rent and not buy their home.