After a single season in the big seat, The Phoenix Suns pulled the head coach Mike Budenholzer The team going 36-46 in the regular season and missing the two playoffs and, more impressive, the game.
(Seriously, do you know how bad you need to miss the game? Even the 39 winners, Luka Dončić, without hatred of the world, Dallas Mavericks did it!)
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Phoenix now owes Budenholzer the remaining $ 40 million that remained in his five -year contract, and a good part of the $ 31 million Dollars contract at 31 million dollars when he was dismissed after a season in 2024.
When a team pays this kind of money so that two coaches do not train it, you know things are bad. Decompose what did not work for The Suns, who should also exchange Kevin during This summer.
The Phoenix Suns owe Mike Budenholzer a little money. (Photo / Darryl webb)
(Associated Press)
Poor rotations
Budenholzer, who won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, curiously decided not to use two recruits, which could both change the defensive tone of a match, in Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
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Dunn, who even learned to reach 3 points before the season after a large total of 12 over two years in Virginia, should have been penciled for 25 minutes at night, taking into account its positional fluidity, its defensive prowess and its ability to play superior scorers.
Instead, Dunn's minutes were everywhere, totaling 35 games of less than 20 minutes played and 39 on this brand, all intertwined at the variable points of the season. He has also played less than 10 minutes in many games.
While Budenholzer tends to count on veterans, in the case of Dunn, the reasons for its limited use are not clear, because the 6 -feet 6 -inch Swiss knife forward has a game that lends itself well to the accent put by Budenholzer on the defense.
(And with Phoenix finishing 28th in this department, it is difficult to find a reason why more solutions have not been sought to justify this side of the ground.)
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In the case of Ighodaro, the Big Man 6-10 showed the ability to bounce back and finish the games around the edge, and it even worked well in short-term action, because its capacity of passage is quite advanced.
Having such a player at your disposal and not withdrawing more from him is downright strange, especially for a coach who has historically has a coaching experience several great men who can influence the soil via their intelligence.
No membership
It should be mentioned that Budenholzer fought a difficult battle because the list apparently refused to buy its projects from the start.
Players often went through movements, playing an individual basketball style that was not leaned over a more team-oriented approach, which Budenholzer had succeeded in the past, especially in Milwaukee, winning a title in 2021.
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Although nobody can deny Kevin's talent during and Devin Booker, Budenholzer failed to weave his games together and optimize both in the flow of action.
Booker and Durant were helped on approximately 43% of their 2 points made this season, highlighting a style “your turn, my turn” which did not exactly give the Suns an unpredictable offense.
In fact, players on average more than 10 points, only one – Grayson Allen – was helped on more than 70% of its 2 points, and it is not even worth mentioning when 71.6% of its shots came from the line of 3 points.
It shows an almost complete lack of high quality shots created in the flow of the game, for stars and players, with players who are content to take long -term shots, or simply to create their own looks.
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The front office has not helped
Remember when fans and experts were busy falling on each other to underline the acquisition of Bradley Beal meant huge position overhang with Booker, to the point where it would probably work against the Suns?
The owner Mat Ishbia was clearly disagreed, but after this season, the owner of the Suns no longer has a leg to stand in this conversation.
The Beal experience did not work. It has never worked since it was brought back in 2023. The idea that one of Beal and Booker could somehow become a full -time leader, or one of them could become a wing, has always been one of the most forced and illogical approaches to team construction that we have ever seen.
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The Suns paid more than $ 99.4 million for two shooting guards who could not play together, which means that they essentially wasted the salary slit of $ 50.2 million in Beal, which could have been used much more effectively.
If only thousands of people had shown such challenges in unison when trade was subjected to …
Too bad.
The Phoenix season is now over, Budenholzer has finished, for the coming months, Beal still has a clause without exchange, and the Suns have practically no control of their own long -term recovery choices.
It doesn't look great, friends.
