The Phoenix Suns are looking for a new head coach, and a former league MVP is the favorite to get the job.
The Suns on Monday fired Mike Budenholzer after just one season on the job. Despite having the highest payroll in the NBA, the Suns went 36-46 and missed the postseason entirely.
This is the second year in a row the Suns fired their head coach after one season, as they also fired Frank Vogel last year. The job seems unstable, but oddsmakers are favoring former Suns star Steve Nash to get the job next.
BetOnline.ag set odds for the next Suns head coach. Here are all the candidates with odds 14/1 or lower. Nash, Sam Cassell, Willie Green, Jared Dudley and Chris Quinn all have pretty decent odds.
Steve Nash 4/1
Sam Cassell 9/2
Willie Green 5/1
Jared Dudley 6/1
Chris Quinn 7/1
Mike Brown 10/1
Micah Nori 12/1
Taylor Jenkins 12/1
Johnnie Bryant 14/1
Green’s inclusion fairly high on the list is no surprise considering a separate report mentioned him as a candidate. Nash, Green, Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins are the people on the list with previous experience as a head coach. The others have only served as assistant coaches.
Though the Suns have Kevin Durant on the team, they are expected to trade him. That means any coach who steps into the position would be taking on a roster in transition that would likely be centered around Devin Booker.
As for Nash, he served as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets for two full seasons from 2020-2022. He was fired after beginning the 2022-2023 season — his third on the job — with a 2-5 record. Durant was one of the major pieces on those Nets teams, but it doesn’t seem like there will be a reunion if KD is traded. Nash is a Hall of Fame player and was the NBA MVP in 2005 and 2006. He spent 10 of his 18 seasons as a player with the Suns.
