After another disappointing year, the Phoenix Suns have officially missed the postseason. Phoenix finished the season 36-46 and earned the No. 11 seed in the West. Furthermore, they lost nine of their last 10 games to end the season. This includes their final game of the year, which culminated in an 11-point loss to the Sacramento Kings. On Monday, the Suns officially made a decision regarding head coach Mike Budenholzer that fans had long awaited.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Suns fired Budenholzer after one season with the team. With this firing, the Suns will soon have their fourth head coach in four years.
A year after 49 wins, the sixth seed and the No. 13 ranked defense, the Suns plummeted to third-worst in the NBA on defense and went 10-18 after the All-Star break.
For the third straight offseason, Phoenix is changing coaches. https://t.co/RhniwQ47pU
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 14, 2025
Phoenix Suns Officially Make Long-Awaited Decision
The Suns May Make a Blockbuster Trade This Offseason After Firing Mike Budenholzer
In February, the Suns reportedly considered trading star Kevin Durant. However, no trade came to fruition, and Durant remained in Phoenix. After the trade deadline, NBA insider Brian Windhorst reported that the Suns were “probably” going to trade the two-time champion this offseason.
“Yeah, [Durant]’s probably going to get traded this summer. He knows it, the Suns know it, the rest of the league know[s] it, they’re going to enjoy him while they have him. It’s not really controversial in all honesty. They’re under .500, they’ve got a $230 million payroll, then add about $100 million in tax on that…[Durant]’s played almost 1,500 minutes this year, and he’s +2 on the court in those 1,500 minutes,” Windhorst said.
“So you have an extremely expensive team that is not winning, and the player that is their most expensive player, who is playing great but not impacting them on a positive level, you do not need a high-level analyst to tell you that they probably need to trade him, which is why they were exploring the trade market for him…I would expect this summer for Durant and the Suns to work together to find a new home.”
However, earlier this month, The Ringer’s Logan Murdock reported that a trade no longer seems inevitable. Furthermore, Murdock reported that Durant is open to a return.
“If there’s anything left to learn about this team, the next month should reveal it. The book isn’t closed on Durant returning to the Suns next season. League sources suggest that Durant, who will be eligible for a two-year, $122 million extension this offseason, would be open to a return,” Murdock wrote.
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