After Mike Budenholzer spent just one season as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, he was relieved of his duties, and the Suns have now found his successor. Reportedly, the Suns will hire Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott to lead them from the sidelines.
The Suns supposedly got strong feedback on Ott from a team legend as well. Former Suns floor general Steve Nash earned six All-Star selections and won a pair of MVP awards in his lengthy Suns tenure, and he had “very positive feedback” to give about Ott.
Ott worked under Nash when the latter was the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Ott’s time as an assistant coach with Brooklyn included when the Nets had plenty of star power with the likes of Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant, though that Big 3 never came close to winning a title together.
Ott just enjoyed one of his most successful seasons in the NBA’s coaching ranks with Kenny Atkinson’s staff on the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers won 64 games in the 2024-25 regular season and secured the best record in the Eastern Conference and second-best record in the NBA. They later fizzled out in the second round of the playoffs.
Ott brings a wealth of coaching experience to a Phoenix team that massively underperformed in the Western Conference this season. The Suns’ Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker couldn’t secure a playoff spot for Phoenix in a highly competitive West. Phoenix finished as the No. 11 seed in its conference despite having all of the offensive firepower that it did.
It seems like Ott shouldn’t expect the Suns’ roster to look identical next season to how it does now, as major changes could be coming this offseason. Durant isn’t getting any younger at 36 years old, and he’s seen his name floated in trade rumors lately.
Beal could be an odd man out for the Suns this summer as well, as he’s proven to be a clunky fit in Phoenix. Oddly enough, the Suns even experimented with playing him off the bench for part of the campaign.
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