It was less than 24 hours ago that the Phoenix Suns were reported to have parted ways with head coach Frank Vogel after only one year at the helm. But as of this morning, the Suns appear to have found their permanent replacement.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Suns are set to hire former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer as their next head coach. Budenholzer is an Arizona native.
“The Phoenix Suns plan to hire Bucks champion Mike Budenholzer as their head coach on deal expected to approach eight figures per year, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium . The Holbrook, Ariz., native will be tasked with optimizing Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal,” Charania wrote.
The fact that the Suns were able to get this deal done less than 24 hours after firing their head coach is surprising. Either they knew exactly who they were going to get before they even told anyone their plans for Vogel, or this has been in the works for a good while.
Budenholzer most recently served as head coach of the Bucks from 2018 to 2023, during which he led the team to their second-ever NBA title in 2021. However, after the Bucks lost in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs, he was dismissed as head coach.
In 391 games for the Bucks, Budenholzer won 69.3-percent of his games.
His 410-game tenure as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2018 was somewhat less impressive but he still led the team to the playoffs four times in five years and won 52-percent of his games with the team.