Here are six candidates for Phoenix Suns head coach opening. Mike Budenholzer tops list

The Phoenix Suns will have a different coach for the third time in three seasons.

The Suns fired Frank Vogel after just one season, a 49-33 record and a quick first-round exit in the 2024 NBA playoffs.

Vogel replaced Monty Williams, who was fired a year ago after the Suns lost to Denver in a Western Conference semifinals series.

Both had high expectations under new owner Mat Ishbia, and when the Suns acquired Bradley Beal to go with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, a title was the goal.

“We are here to win a championship and last season was way below our expectations,” Suns president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones said in a statement.

Beyond coaching, the Suns need a better roster to compete with the best teams in the West. Jones said it’s on him, CEO Josh Bartelstein and Ishbia to build a championship team.

The Suns also have competition from the Los Angeles Lakers, who are searching for a coach to replace Darvin Ham.

Who are potential coaching candidates for the Suns?

Mike Budenholzer

This makes sense. Budenholzer is a championship coach and an Arizona native. His dad, Vince, was a legendary basketball coach at Holbrook (Arizona) High and won 300-plus games, including a state title in 1971.

Beyond local guy coming home, Budenholzer has had success as a head coach in Atlanta and Milwaukee, leading the Bucks to a title in 2021. He also was an assistant on four Spurs championship teams. A two-time NBA Coach of the Year, Budenholzer owns a 484-317 regular-season record and 56-48 playoff record in 10 seasons – five with Atlanta and five with Milwaukee.

Whether coaching the Hawks or Bucks, Budenholzer has assembled teams that produce offensively and defensively. After the Bucks parted ways with him after last season’s first-round exit, Budenholzer took the 2023-24 season off and recently had some interest the Brooklyn Nets opening that went to Jordi Fernandez.

Budenholzer is a great coach for a short stint, and the Bucks thought a new voice was necessary. For a team trying to capitalize on success in a short window – that’s the Suns – Budenholzer could get the team in the right direction quickly. And he has experience coaching a star (Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee).

Terry Stotts

Terry Stotts has been a head coach for three teams – Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland. His longest tenure with one team was nine seasons for the Trail Blazers. He was 402-318 with Portland, helping the Blazers reach the playoffs eight consecutive times. They reached the conference finals once (2019) and conference semifinals two other times, and the Blazers won 50-plus games three times under Stotts.

Stotts, who played college basketball and professionally in the CBA and overseas, is a strong offensive coach and is very good at calling plays late in the fourth quarter of close games. He adapted quickly to the NBA’s pace and space style. Stotts didn’t return to the Blazers after the 2020-21 season and accepted a job on Adrian Griffin’s Milwaukee Bucks staff last season. But after the Bucks acquired Damian Lillard, whom Stotts coached in Portland, Stotts resigned as an assistant.

Stotts interviewed for the Lakers job in 2022, the offseason in which the franchise decided on Ham.

Ty Lue

Ty Lue’s name will come up in coaching vacancies, but the Los Angeles Clippers coach is under contract for the 2024-25 season – and it appears there’s a desire by both sides to reach an extension. Lue, who coached LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to a championship in 2016, is expected to earn $10 million or more per season in his next deal.

Lue is a former player and played his first three NBA seasons with the Lakers and has the respect of today’s players – and knows how to manage a variety of stars from James to Kyrie Irving to Kevin Love to Kawhi Leonard to Paul George to James Harden.

Scott Brooks

Brooks is a former head coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards. He was named Coach of the Year in 2010 after leading the Thunder to a 50-win season and their first playoff appearance in five seasons. During his tenure with the Thunder, Brooks' team reached the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2012, losing to the Miami Heat. He was fired following the 2016 season, after the Thunder failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in the Scott Brooks era.

With the Wizards, Brooks reached the postseason in three of his five seasons with the team but never escaped the second round. Brooks was fired after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2021 play-in tournament.

Brooks has spent the last three seasons as an assistant to Chauncey Billups with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers recently announced they would be dismissing Brooks, along with Rodney Billups. 

David Adelman

Adelman started his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves serving as a player development coach under his father, Rick Adelman. Even after his father's retirement in 2014, Adelman continued working with the Timberwolves until 2016, when he left to become an assistant head coach for the Orlando Magic under none other than Frank Vogel. After just one season with Orlando, Adelman left the Magic to join the Denver Nuggets.

Adelman is still with the Nuggets, serving as the lead assistant coach under Michael Malone. Adelman was an integral part of the team's NBA championship in 2023.

JJ Redick

Redick, a highly sought after NBA coaching option, may be the riskiest option of any available, given his lack of coaching experience, but there is no denying his basketball IQ. After all, he currently hosts a podcast discussing basketball alongside LeBron James.

Redick is just three years removed from being in the NBA himself. He had a solid 15-year career with the Magic, Bucks, Clippers, 76ers, Pelicans and Mavericks. He averaged 12.8 points per game for his career, mostly serving as a sharpshooter off the bench. Redick's best trait was his three-point shooting. Redick hit threes at a staggering 41.5% clip for his career, even leading the NBA in in 2016 (47.5%). For perspective, that's the same year Steph Curry became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history, and Redick had a better three-point percentage.

Redick's best days as a player arguably came in college though. Redick is a college basketball legend, who accrued nearly every accolade under the sun during his four years with Duke. He was a two-time ACC Player of the Year (2005, 2006), a two-time ACC Tournament MVP (2005, 2006), a two-time First Team All-American (2005, 2006), and was named the National College Player of the Year in 2006. However, Redick was never able to win an NCAA championship with Duke.