Devin Booker. G League. Fiery: Inside look at Phoenix Suns head coaching candidate Kevin Young
Kevin Young has been linked to several NBA head coaching jobs over the last two years.
Now Phoenix.
The Suns are expected to interview their associate head coach in looking to replace Monty Williams, who they fired Saturday evening.
NBA teams typically interview a coach on the staff for a vacant head coaching position, but Young has a couple of things working in his favor for this job.
Kevin Durant talking to #Suns assistant Kevin Young during timeout. pic.twitter.com/QThlvnGvRw
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) March 17, 2023
One, Young has earned Devin Booker’s respect.
“He can do stuff on the court and he’s a mastermind with the Xs and Os and game scouting and knowing teams,” said Booker during the 2022-23 season.
Young has been Booker's player development coach.
“So having the balance of both has been a big boost for my career," Booker continued. "He’s really helped and is someone you can go to, ask any type of question. He’s been around it for a long time. He knows the game.”
Two, Young was a head coach in the NBA’s G League like Nick Nurse, the 2019-20 NBA Coach of the Year, Taylor Jenkins, Quin Snyder and Mark Daigneault.
Nurse coached the Toronto Raptors to a 2019 NBA Championship and Jenkins coached the Memphis Grizzlies to the second-best record in the Western Conference this season.
The Raptors fired Nurse after Toronto went 41-41 this season and failed to make the playoffs after being in the play-in.
Snyder coached Utah to a 372-264 record in eight seasons. The Jazz reached the postseason in Snyder's final six seasons in Utah. He served as interim head coach for the Atlanta Hawks this season after Nate McMillan was fired.
Atlanta made the playoffs out of the play-in tournament, but lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Daigneault just finished his third season as head coach at Oklahoma City. He's 86-154, but the Thunder have had an increase in victories in each of his three seasons. They went 40-42 this season and made it to the play-in.
Young was a head coach for the Utah Flash (2010-11), Iowa Energy (2011-13) and Delaware 87ers (2014-16) before becoming a 76ers assistant under Brett Brown (2016-20). He replaced Nurse in Iowa.
Young joined the Suns for the 2020-21 season as he and Williams worked together under Brown in 2018-19. Young was moved up to associate head coach when Willie Green took the head coaching job in New Orleans in 2021.
Clippers coach Ty Lue would be an ideal choice for the Suns as he not only won an NBA championship coaching LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, but is arguably the best coach in the league.
Updates: Suns coach speculation, rumors, news: Who will replace Monty Williams?
The Suns, league sources say, are expected to explore the feasibility of trying to lure Tyronn Lue away from the Clippers after tonight's abrupt dismissal of Monty Williams as coach.
More NBA from me: https://t.co/A6ycVmnrjq— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 14, 2023
However, he's under contract with the Clippers, who Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reported met with Lue's representatives this week about his future with the franchise.
Marc Stein reported the Suns were looking to "explore the feasibility" of getting Lue from the Clippers after Williams was fired.
Now back to Young.
He worked four games as head coach for Williams during Phoenix's historic 64-win season in 2021-22 while Williams was in the league's health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19.
More: Will Chris Paul return for Phoenix Suns next season?
"That's a big deal."
Devin Booker on #Suns lead assistant Kevin Young getting his first #NBA win as he's an acting head coach for Monty Williams (health and safety protocols). pic.twitter.com/gvtlJVBlGz— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 30, 2021
The Suns went 2-2 in those games with Young as acting head coach.
Young comes off as mild-mannered off the court, but he’s got some fire to him. too.
While coaching the Flash in the G League, Young had a confrontation in March 2011 with Eric Musselman, who was coaching the Reno Bighorns at the time.
A former NBA head coach, Musselman is now the men’s head basketball coach at the University of Arkansas.
This season, Young jawed back-and-forth with Green during a skirmish following Zion Williamson’s 360 dunk to cap New Orleans’ home win over Phoenix.
Then during Game 5 of the Denver series, Young had words with Nuggets sixth man Bruce Brown, who was probing around Phoenix’s sideline huddle in the second half.
Kevin Durant and Brown, teammates in Brooklyn, received double technical fouls as Durant shoved two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic away from the area.
The Nuggets won the series in six games.
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Devin Booker praised Phoenix Suns head coach candidate Kevin Young
