Jeff

Hornacek

Utah finalized its coaching staff on Thursday, with Hornacek being one of the new hires. Hornacek, a Jazz assistant from 2011-13, most recently served on Stephen Silas’ staff in Houston. And he has prior head coaching experience, leading the Suns (2013-16) and Knicks (2016-18). With this being Hardy’s first head coaching job at the NBA level, it makes sense to add someone to his staff with prior experience. Also named to the staff were assistants Alex Jensen, Lamar Skeeter, and Bryan Bailey.

Hornacek has been out of the league since the Knicks let him go as their head coach in 2018, but he’ll return in an assistant coaching role on Silas’ staff, joining John Lucas and Rick Higgins.

“We’ve talked to a few teams about getting in the draft at different ranges,” GM Ryan McDonough said. “We have good assets to do that. We have to evaluate all of these guys, figure out where they’re going to go. And then if we can get in at a particular range where a guy is undervalued, we’ll try to get in and get him there.” The Suns also have the 30th pick in in the draft and have a lot of work to do.

The team interviewed Steve Clifford earlier in the week, and now Clifford will head to the Suns for his next interview. The Bobcats are casting a wide net in their coaching search, and we have to hope it works out better than the misguided hire of Mike Dunlap last season.

An expected move is now official. GM Ryan McDonough said the team is “thrilled” with its new hire, and said Hornacek has “all of the qualities we were looking for in a head coach— he is a leader, a teacher and a student of the game.”

Burkstein was promoted by new GM Ryan McDonough while Connelly joins the Suns after seven seasons with the Wizards. Phoenix also hired Ronnie Lester as a scout and named Emilio Kovacic as international scouting consultant.

For one, it’s a smart decision for a first-time head coach, but, more importantly, it’ll be an important teaching moment for a franchise basically starting over from the ground up. With the Suns rebuilding and full of young players the team needs to evaluate, Hornacek will get a chance to see what he has in some of his less-experienced players before training camp even opens.

He will officially sign the contract on Monday morning. The 50-year-old former point guard spent six seasons in the NBA with the Suns and accumulated plenty of credibility as an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz. He’ll have his hands full with a Phoenix roster that lacks talent and doesn’t make much of a compelling case to free agents. For what it’s worth, the Suns have done a good job in fixing their braintrust with Hornecek and new GM Ryan McDonough in their offseason.

Hornacek, currently an assistant with the Jazz, has also interviewed with the Bobcats. He seems like a natural fit in Phoenix, where he played for six seasons, though the rebuilding Suns have also met with head coach candidate J.B. Bickerstaff, and they have permission to interview Steve Clifford. The Suns, led by new GM Ryan McDonough, could make their decision “within the next week.”

The contract would be “a minimum 3 years and could be announced as early as Tuesday.” This follows Adrian Wojnarowski’s report naming Hornacek the “frontrunner,” and the substantive details make it sound like a done deal. Hornacek had been connected to the Bobcats and 76ers, but he opted to coach the team he played with for six seasons. He’s known for player development and he’ll be busy with the Suns, who hold six first-round picks in the next three seasons.