The Phoenix Suns may be on the market for a new head coach following the 2023-2024 season. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Frank Vogel’s job may be in jeopardy as his team faces elimination against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Wojnarowski said in ESPN’s NBA Countdown before the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks game on Sunday.
“[There’s] increasing belief around the league that Frank Vogel’s job is in peril if he loses. Especially as abruptly as they might in a sweep, as dispirited as they looked in Game 3. When you have this kind of payroll, these kinds of expectations, you’ve got to not only show more in the first round, you’ve got to get out of the first round. Losing in six last year to Denver in the second round cost Monty Williams his job. You see Mat Ishbia, the owner, has made rapid change in his short tenure as owner. Frank Vogel’s job very much may be in jeopardy now.”
Vogel was hired last offseason after the team fired former head coach Monty Williams. Williams led the Suns to their first finals appearance in 28 years and three consecutive playoff appearances with an overall record of 194-115. The former Suns ownership signed Williams to a multi-year deal before the 2022-2023 season.
Ishbia, the new Suns owner, clearly didn’t care about any of that and started over with Vogel. He’s shown that he is willing to move on if needed, and Vogel could be cut loose. The Suns came into the 2023-2024 season as favorites to win the title, and rightfully so. The team was built around its superstars, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
However, the team struggled to stay healthy and finished with a 49-33 record that earned them the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Suns have gotten help from others like Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic, but beyond that, the team hasn’t found a ton of cohesion on the court that complements the talent.
The Suns are on the brink of elimination as they face a 0-3 deficit against the T-Wolves. The games haven’t been close, as the Wolves have won by an average margin of 18 points.
Vogel signed a five-year, $31 million deal last summer. The 50-year-old coach won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and led the Indiana Pacers back to glory in the early 2010s alongside Paul George, Roy Hibbert, David West and George Hill.
If these reports are accurate, the Suns will be looking for their seventh head coach in the span of eight years.
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