Getty Image / Chris Coduto
When the Phoenix Suns acquired star guard Bradley Beal to pair with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, many thought they should be the favorites to win the NBA title. Plus, they paired them with an NBA champion coach in Frank Vogel after firing Monty Williams, and it seemed like a pretty good match.
But, that three-headed monster turned out to be not so monstrous, and things never really gelled in Phoenix all year. After an underachieving 49 wins in the regular season, the Suns were unceremoniously swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
That meant that someone had to shoulder the blame. It’s one thing if you win a a few rounds and come up short with high expectations. But, to be swept by a team whose core had never won a playoff series together meant someone’s head had to roll. That head turned out to be Frank Vogel.
Vogel was fired by Suns owner Matt Ishbia on Thursday after just one season at the helm. It’s reported that former Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer will be a big-time candidate for the job.
The easiest guy to fire is always the head coach. It’s a lot easier to get rid of him than it is underperforming, high-paid players, and the GM isn’t going to recommend firing himself. But I’m not sure that was the right play here. At the very least, it may be unfair to Frank Vogel.
Ultimately, the pieces of this roster just didn’t fit together well, at all. Any time you have three players on max contracts like Booker, Beal, and Durant, your depth is going to suffer. That means that if you’re going to build the “big three” type of team, those guys have to fit together.
Think of the way that Paul Pierce, Ray, Allen, and Kevin Garnett fit together, and then add in the fact they had a young point guard who wanted to distribute the ball in Rajon Rondo. Meanwhile, the Suns’ big three all need the ball in their hands to stay engaged at varying degrees, none of them are great defenders at this stage of their careers, and they’re not high-energy players either.
That’s why the real scapegoat should be the move to bring in Bradley Beal. That trade resulted in them trading away a good center who plays decent defense in Deandre Ayton due to money issues later last offseason. Plus, it handicapped their ability to get other players who may fit better, as they pretty much have no assets left to improve the roster with now.
Beal’s at his best when he’s the primary focus of the offense. That’s never going to be the case in Phoenix and is superfluous. No one would claim that Frank Vogel did the best job of his coaching career this year. But, given a team whose pieces didn’t fit and a bench devoid of valuable NBA players, squeezing 49 wins out of them may have been an okay job.
Ultimately, the Suns are going to have to get lucky this offseason to significantly upgrade their roster to the point it can compete with the top teams in a Western Conference that is seeing young and athletic teams dominate the playoffs so far. No matter who they hire as head coach, that is what will be most important.