Revealing the inside story of Buden's dismissal: Bad relationship with Durant Booker Suns have plummeted in a number of stats this season

On April 15, Beijing time, the Suns officially announced the dismissal of head coach Mike Budenholzer. In a statement, the team said: "Competing at the highest level remains our goal, but this season we have not lived up to expectations. Our fans deserve better results and change is needed. ”

Suns owner Matt Ishbia, CEO Josh Battlestein, and general manager James Jones have changed coaches for the third consecutive offseason. The Suns have a 36-46 record this season.

Budenholzer has had problems communicating with the team's locker room this season, with team management determining that the players have not responded positively to the 2021 NBA championship coach's tenure, according to sources. Sources also pointed out that the inability of Budenholzer to get along with the players is centered around the team's cornerstone, Devin Booker, and is reflected throughout the squad.

Booker's 10 seasons with the Suns have seen seven head coaches in total. Now, the Suns are back in the thick of an extensive coaching process. Budenholzer accepted a five-year, $50 million contract from the Suns last offseason, and he was hired for his impressive winning resume and defensive playbook.

How bad have the Suns been this season?

According to ESPN, the Suns became only the third team in NBA history to start with an 8-1 record or better but miss the playoffs, the first two being the Detroit Pistons in 1970-1971 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2001-2002. In March and April, the Suns suffered eight straight losses and lost by double digits in each game, the most consecutive losses by 10 points or more in franchise history.

In the 2023-2024 season, under Vogel's coaching, the Suns won 49 games, finished sixth in the West, and ranked 13th in the league in defensive efficiency. This season, however, the Suns are the third-lowest in the NBA in defensive efficiency, and the second-lowest in the league after the All-Star break.

The Suns' $214 million salary bill and $152 million luxury tax payment are both among the highest in the league. In the more than two years since Ishbia took over the team, he has shown great courage and willingness to bring in players, coaches and resources for the team. However, the lineup didn't work out as it should, and now the team is ready to rebuild the roster around Booker.

After All-Star Weekend, the Suns have a 10-18 record. This season, they have a 12-32 record against teams with a win percentage of 50% or more, while in 2023-24 the Suns have a 28-25 record against such teams.

The next step will be to trade Durant and Beal

According to Shams of The Athletic, the Suns are about to make the next move in the summer of change after firing Buden: trading Durant. According to sources, the Suns are expected to engage in trade talks involving Durant and will open discussions about Beal's future. Multiple teams will be actively chasing Durant, who has been doing well this season, and the Suns are expected to join Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, to discuss the future Hall of Famer's next destination.

Beal has two years left on his contract and is worth $111 million. He has the right to veto deals, which are a bit more difficult.

Durant was nearly traded to the Warriors by the Suns before the trade deadline in February, but he later made it clear in the league that he didn't want to return to his old club. Next season will be the last year of his current contract.

This season, the Suns have a 33-29 record when Durant plays, and in his absence, the team has a 3-17 record.

Last season, the Suns had a 26-15 record and a net efficiency of +6.6 when Booker, Durant and Beal were on the court at the same time, and this season they are only 19-18 with a net efficiency of -4.1.

James Jones' contract expires at the end of June

According to league sources, there will be no immediate changes to the team's management anytime soon. The fate of basketball operations president James Jones is yet to be known, although league sources say his contract expires at the end of June, and Ishbia is widely expected to consider a new candidate for the role.

Jones has been with the Suns since 2017 and has held a leadership role in the team's management since 2019. However, sources within the league and the team say Ishbia and CEO Josh Battlestein have played a more prominent role in trade negotiations and team operations this season. Whether Battlestein's role will change remains unclear.

How did Budden lose control of the locker room?

Before the trade deadline, they chased six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler in vain. Beal, who had a non-tradable clause, was put on the shelf by the Suns, but couldn't find a suitable next home. The Suns have discussed trading Durant with other teams, particularly the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves, and then kept him, a process that has left Durant unhappy, according to team insiders.

As a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, Budenholzer tried out 35 starting lineups and made multiple rotational adjustments, which sometimes confused members of the team's locker room. Rookie Ryan Dunn, the team's Defensive Player of the Year, disappeared from the rotation for a while. Bol Bol averaged 21 minutes per game in 16 games in the second half of the season, but barely got a chance to play for the rest of the season.

Still, the Suns repeated the same mistakes — sloppy ball handling, sluggish defense and, most worryingly, a quick collapse in the face of challenges. During an eight-game losing streak late in the season, Budenholzer said he felt the Suns players were still responding to him, but it didn't.

Budenholzer is known for being strict with his players. During training camp, he often said that "empty talk is useless," emphasizing that the Suns must prove everything on the court. They started the season off to a good start, winning eight of their first nine games, but the momentum and good vibes quickly dissipated. Booker said the Suns skipped important steps in building team culture and didn't learn from every win. He described the rest of the season as "a slow process of elimination".

A review of the events of the Sun Drama

It was also a dramatic season for the Suns. Budenholzer travelled to Croatia to meet Nurkic ahead of the start of the season, a relationship-building move that impressed the experienced centre-forward. Nurkic lost weight and practiced three-pointers to better fit into Budenholzer's offensive system.

But after a poor start, Budenholzer pinned Nurkic to the bench and left him out of the rotation. Nurkic told reporters that Budenholzer never explained to him the reasons for the decisions and that his relationship with Budenholzer no longer exists. Subsequently, the Suns traded Nurkic to the Hornets.

In February, Haynes of The Athletic reported that Budenholzer called Booker into the office and told the star guard that he talked too much on the court and during the timeout. The coach asked Booker to be a little more restrained, which was confirmed by a league source, which shocked Booker. Budenholzer and Booker downplayed the report, saying their relationship was solid, but neither denied that the meeting took place.

On March 4, Budenholzer grabbed his left arm as Durant walked to the bench during a timeout early in a comeback win over the Clippers. Durant angrily shook off his hand. Durant later said that anyone questioning the incident was unaware of the dynamics of the relationship between him and Budenholzer. He thinks it's just an interaction between two contenders trying to get things done on the pitch, but the image doesn't look good.

In the midst of the team's woes, Budenholzer's own performances didn't help. The enthusiasm and gratitude he showed at his inaugural press conference was never seen again. He has a lukewarm attitude towards the media. His pre-game communication with reporters was the shortest in the league. Unlike previous head coaches, Budenholzer will not give pregame interviews to the Suns' radio team.

With the number of defeats mounting, fans grew tired of Budenholzer's lackluster post-match speeches, which often began with praise for his opponents and ended with "We have to do better." It's not just the fans who feel that way.

After losing at home to the New Orleans Pelicans in February, Booker pointed out that the team's problem was to ignore the details and have a "win back next time" mentality.

"At some point, you have to draw a line," Booker said, "and that line is long overdue." ”

For better or worse, the Suns drew a line with Budenholzer today.

As the Suns struggled in the second half of the season, Budenholzer and his coaching staff seemed to have a premonition of their fate. In the final minutes of the home loss to the Thunder, a loss that left the Suns out of the play-in tournament entirely, Budenholzer sat on the bench between assistant coaches David Fitzdale and Chad Fucier.

As the final whistle blew, Budenholzer stood up and pointed at Thunder coach Dagneault. With his head down and a piece of tactical paper tucked into his back pants pocket, he stepped off the court, through the hallway, down a long hallway to the Suns locker room. He didn't look up, nor did he say a word to anyone passing by. When asked later about his future, Budenholzer said it was too cruel for him to accept.

"It's tough," he said at the time, "and there's no doubt about it." ”