The Suns have narrowed their head coaching search to three finalists, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, who reports that Doc Rivers, Frank Vogel, and Kevin Young are still in contention.
Reporting a week ago indicated that Phoenix was advancing to the final stage of its process with five candidates still in play. Since then, one of those candidates – Nick Nurse – has reportedly accepted another job, having agreed to coach the Sixers.
Based on Gambadoro’s reporting, it appears the fifth candidate, Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez, is no longer receiving consideration from the Suns. Fernandez is still believed to be in the running for the Raptors’ head coaching vacancy, but Phoenix will apparently decide between Rivers, Vogel, and Young.
An assistant coach on Monty Williams‘ staff since 2020, Young reportedly has some support within the organization to receive a promotion to replace Williams, including an endorsement from star guard Devin Booker. However, he’s the only one of Phoenix’s three remaining finalists without any previous head coaching experience.
Rivers has won a total of 1,860 regular season games and 111 playoff contests with four NBA franchises since 1999, while Vogel has coached three teams since 2010, compiling 820 regular season victories and 49 more in the postseason.
According to Gambadoro, the Suns could finalize a head coaching hire later this week.
Doc and Frank back to Boston please
It will be Young
Hope so
The Rivers interest is hilarious. Guy is such a failure yet gets chance after chance. He must have something on the NBA….
Hire him Phoenix and you are guaranteed to blow a playoff lead…
I legit assume Rivers’ agent paid the writer to add Rivers’ name to the group
Watch KD demand Rivers behind closed doors and the Suns capitulate. It would be too fitting.
Yeah he does have something — experience and a winning record (and a championship).
Many of these risk-averse owners feel more comfortable leaving their money in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing vs. an unknown/young assistant.
Whether you agree with that, or feel it’s the best way to win a championship is not really the point. You are not smarter than any front office. This is why he gets considerations. Welcome to the real world, junior.
Hiring Doc would be a mistake. I’d pick Vogel. Not sure why Mike Budenholzer isn’t in the mix. He’s better than any of the three mentioned.
Budenholzer is on the bottle.
I don’t see how any of those candidates are an upgrade over Monty Williams. They should’ve went hard after Nurse. The guy I think would be a fantastic hire would be Quinn from Miami. You hear of him being a potential candidate in Detroit or Toronto but you don’t hear if he’s interviewed anywhere. Maybe he’s focused on winning the championship this year and doesn’t want to be a distraction to the team..