Suns turn to 54-year-old, Arizona native Mike Budenholzer as third coach in three years
Budenholzer said he is excited to compete for championships and wants to add to what Devin Booker and Kevin Durant can do.
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A native of Holbrook, Arizona, Mike Budenholzer was teary-eyed and thankful.
“It’s freakin’ exciting,” said Budenholzer, who by coaches with at least a .600 record is one of five in the last 45 years to win an NBA championship. Budenholzer, 54, was introduced as head coach of the Phoenix Suns on Friday in front of media and family in the Footprint Center pavilion with president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones.
Budenholzer defeated the Suns in the finals before, and he’s looking to lead them now to their first-ever NBA championship.
“The biggest message I want you to hear,” Budenholzer remarked, “I would coach this team if it were on the moon.”
The dream came true for Budenholzer, who was accompanied at the press conference with his partner, Lisa, and perhaps most importantly his father, Vince Budenholzer, a longtime coach of the Holbrook High School boys basketball team. Mike and his brother, Jim, won a state championship in 1971.
“I’m still chasing that,” Budenholzer said. “I’ll trade an NBA championship for my dad’s high school state championship.”
The 54-year-old Mike was introduced as the 22nd coach of the Suns by Al McCoy, who he said is one of his heroes. Mike grew up listening to McCoy, who retired following the 2023 season, and practiced moves in his backyard from Suns greats Alvan Adams and Paul Westphal.
Now, Budenholzer will inherit a Phoenix team with all-time player Kevin Durant and perhaps the franchise’s best player during his tenure with the team, Devin Booker, and three-time All-Star and former scoring champion runner-up Bradley Beal. The task is no different than what Budenholzer and his family rooted for: a title.
“That’s what I’m excited about, is competing for championships,” he said.
Budenholzer in his interview with the Suns, according to Jones, Budenholzer said “compete” 95 times in two minutes. It stood out over former coach Frank Vogel.
Budenholzer said “compete” 95 times in two minutes in his interview with the Suns, according to Jones. It stood out over former coach Frank Vogel.
“I thought that was an area of our team we could be better,” said Jones, who is general manager and is building a roster that will be hampered by the impending second tax apron restrictions.
Booker, Beal and Durant in 2023-24 at times were the best trio in the NBA. But there are issues within the roster makeup that must be addressed.
Namely, the Suns will focus on shooting, Jones said. Phoenix this past season ranked fourth in 3-point percentage (38.1) but ranked No. 25 in threes attempted (32.3).
“There’s going to be philosophical approaches to how we practice every day,” Budenholzer said. “...I’m going to work with the whole group to help them embrace it, understand why it’s important to us.
“When I think about Kevin and Devin, being two of the greatest, maybe all time, certainly this generation and as we talk about today’s NBA in the mid-range, I think of it as just adding to what they do.”
Budenholzer’s 2021 NBA championship team with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Suns in six games in the Finals. Budenholzer’s team ranked No. 10 in the NBA in threes attempted and will return a former player of Budenholzer’s, Grayson Allen, who signed a four-year, $70 million extension in April after he ranked first in the league in 3-point percentage (46.1).
“I love his toughness, I love his competitiveness,” Budenholzer said.
At the front of Budenholzer’s experiment with the Suns – he signed a deal approximately worth $10 million over five years, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania while the Suns are paying Vogel around $6 million for the next four years – will be the re-integration of Durant, who in 2023-24 averaged 27.1 points, ranked fifth in the NBA. Durant is nearing 36 years old and too often was not the focal point for the Suns, who traded their three top forwards from their Finals team and four first-round picks in order to get him.
Durant is still one of the most efficient players in the sport and was the team’s best player on both ends this past season.
But Booker, who is the Suns’ franchise player, according to majority owner Mat Ishbia, will have to become the team’s best player in order to make his mark on the NBA and accelerate the team past Durant’s aging. The 35-year-old has not slowed but father time is inevitable.
“I want to add to what they do,” Budenholzer said.
Budenholzer’s connection to Arizona makes it almost impossible not to cheer. The Suns did not have much to honor the state since they were eliminated by a sweep in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Phoenix also has to remake its roster within the constrictions of being a second-apron team, which means they cannot send cash out in trades and are exempt from using the mid-level exception. The Suns were beat on the glass and by physicality against the Timberwolves, whose superstar Anthony Edwards is blossoming into one of the best players in the NBA. General manager Tim Connelly has built a mean, nasty frontcourt with Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaden McDaniels, Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid and recently-named four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Meanwhile, Phoenix is much smaller and failed to utilize the 3-point line to its advantage. The Suns under Vogel were marred by wonky rotations and a failure to use Booker, Durant and Beal at their best.
That will be the challenge for Budenholzer, who in nine of his 10 seasons as coach has helped teams rank ninth or above in 3-pointers attempted. Five of those years, his teams ranked at least fifth in threes shot.
The Suns may also need a point guard to fix their issues.
“We probably need to be able to have one,” said Budenholzer, who was asked if he would be a part of conversations in roster construction. He has experience previously as the assistant general manager with the Atlanta Hawks.
“The conversations have been great, and there’s no doubt that we need to look at the whole roster and talk about point guard,” he said. “...We need to think about it.”
The Suns for the third time in the last three seasons will turn to a new coach to try and reach championship expectations. Phoenix had been the winningest NBA team since the bubble, but the only thing that will pay off for the local team for Budenholzer is a championship.