The Suns went way down the road with former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer in their search for their next coach, but that fell apart.
So the Suns and GM Ryan McDonough are back hard at the coaching search. They talked to Jason Kidd (who lives in Phoenix now) and Vinny Del Negro (that noise you hear is the screams of Suns fans). Those two are just the start of the search ramping back up, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Suns coaching search is gathering momentum again: Spurs assistant James Borrego interviewed in Phoenix on Thursday, and former Charlotte coach Steve Clifford met with franchise officials there today, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2018
Those two were not alone.
Some breaking Suns' news from Costa Rica. League source said Phoenix talked to Toronto assistant Nick Nurse and Pelicans associate head coach Chris Finch this week.
— scott bordow (@sbordow) April 28, 2018
Both Clifford and Borrego would bring structure and defense to a Suns organization that could use. Nurse may be busy for a few more weeks (at least), but he could bring a better offensive system to a team that could use it. Which one of them — or Kidd or Del Negro or David Fizdale, who also has spoken to the Suns about the job — would be best at developing young talent is the critical question for the Suns. They have a potential young All-Star in Devin Booker who can fill it up, but a lot of other young question marks such as Josh Jackson (who came on the second half of last season), Marquese Chriss, Dragan Bender, and a high draft pick this year.
Another factor: How much is owner Robert Sarver willing to spend? By reputation and history, that may not be enough to lure an experienced coach.
