The NBA regular season came to a close, and it was full of surprises, from the Cleveland Cavaliers having the best record in the Eastern Conference to the Dallas Mavericks trading franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers to Victor Wembanyama’s season being cut short due to the detection of a blood clot.
Still, one of the most shocking results is the Phoenix Suns’ absence from the playoffs. This result is especially shocking considering that the Suns have the most expensive roster in the NBA.
Phoenix has one of the most talented rosters in the league on paper, with names such as Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. However, it wasn’t enough.
The Suns finished the regular season with a record of 36-46, good for 11th place, making Phoenix the first team out of the Western Conference play-in tournament.
Now, heads are starting to roll in the desert, according to one prominent league insider.
“BREAKING: The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after finishing in 11th place with a 36-46 record in his one season, sources tell ESPN,” reported ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The writing was on the wall for Budenholzer all season, with Durant and Booker publicly calling out the team’s lack of gameplan execution at various points throughout the season. The pair even had verbal dustups on the court with Budenholzer during game action.
CBS Sports’ Ashley Nicole Moss wasn’t surprised at all that Budenholzer was let go.
“The firing of Mike Budenholzer is not surprising at all. failures of this team —not completely his fault (it was a poorly constructed from the beginning), but as we know … the coach is always the first domino to fall.”
It’s worth monitoring Mike Malone as a potential replacement, as the championship-winning head coach was let go by the Denver Nugggets prior to the start of the playoffs.
