Good luck in Phoenix, Mike Budenholzer. You're gonna need it.
Mike Budenholzer isn’t a bad pick to become the next head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
Good luck to him, though.
It’s championship or bust around here, and the coach seems to be the only person who has to face any accountability if those expectations aren’t met.
That’s just how it works in the NBA, where coaches are hired and fired with about as much regard as a guy with allergies shows to a Kleenex.
In the NFL, hires take weeks, thanks to safeguards like the Rooney Rule.
In college sports, hires typically go through search committee and board of regents review processes.
But in the NBA, all it takes is for a team owner to feel a little embarrassed and need someone to blame.
It’s not fair, but usually fairness doesn’t have much to do with it.
That said, Budenholzer is a good pick.
Devin Booker should want to listen to him. Coach Bud smoked him in the Finals a couple of seasons ago. Kevin Durant should listen, too. Easy Money Sniper’s reputation for getting buckets is rivaled only by his status as a coach killer. And is it crazy to suggest that Bradley Beal could become a Hall of Famer under Budenholzer? Because I don’t think it is.
The bottom line, anyway, is that if these players make it work on their end, their legacies will get a huge boost.
For me, Budenholzer is the right guy because he knows how to maximize an offense. His teams fill it up with the kind of balance typically found in yoga or gymnastics studios.
The year Budenholzer got 60 wins out of the flightless birds known as the Atlanta Hawks, he had six guys average double figures in scoring. That team had four All-Stars, including Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague, neither of whom were All-Stars before or since.
Head couch search: Phoenix Suns hiring Mike Budenholzer
Budenholzer is probably looking at Booker, Durant, Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen the way a carpenter looks at a pile of two-by-fours.
Budenholzer also has shown the ability to win right away.
NBA success: Small-town Arizona shaped new Suns coach Mike Budenholzer
He put up 60 wins in his first season in Milwaukee. That team led the league in points per game and had six guys average double figures in scoring, led by Alpha(bet) Antetokounmpo.
Plus, I like how he helped Spur things in San Antonio.
It could be coincidence that the franchise won four NBA titles with the Hope of Holbrook helping Gregg Popovich on the sidelines, but I doubt it. Those teams had incredibly balanced scoring, as well.
It might not have been fair that Frank Vogel was scapegoated after getting buzzsawed in four games by the Timberwolves, but that’s in the past now. (It’s exactly one day in the past as this is being written, but that’s a long time in the NBA.)
It’s championship or bust around here, and the coach is the only person who has to face any accountability if those expectations aren’t met.
Good luck, coach. You're gonna need it.
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mike Budenholzer should maximize Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Brad Beal
