After Suns’ loss to the Nuggets, Monty Williams was fired as head coach; he won COY in 2022.
After four seasons, the Phoenix Suns dismissed head coach Monty Williams on Saturday.
Williams was fired by governor Mat Ishbia, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It also perpetuates a bad pattern for coaches with outstanding regular-season records:
Williams becomes the third Coach of the Year winner since 2019 to lose their position in the offseason, behind Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse.
For the second year in a row, the Suns’ season ended in humiliating way, putting Williams under pressure. In a terrible performance that started a year earlier against the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix fell behind by thirty points at the half in their Game 6 defeat to the Denver Nuggets.
Following the game, Suns forward Kevin Durant told reporters, “It was a bad feeling.” “It was awkward. They emerged and struck us in the mouth, leaving us unable to move. They are a disciplined squad, and we have to give them that.”
Williams’ four years as Phoenix’s head coach ended with a 194-115 record. He guided the Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks, and he was named NBA Coach of the Year for the 2022 season.
Midway through the 2022–23 season, Phoenix made a significant move by trading for much of their depth in order to get Durant, who struggled for the whole of the series against the Nuggets. Chris Paul’s deal is partially guaranteed, therefore his future with the Suns is uncertain. The Suns lost Paul to injury during the Denver series once more.
The team that the new coach takes over for the upcoming season can be very different. Only Durant and Devin Booker may have cemented roles in the rotation; Paul and Deandre Ayton are by no means certain to return.
Since acquiring the team from Robert Sarver, Ishbia has been assertive from the beginning, so it is not surprising to see him take a different approach and look for a coach who he believes can better guide the group.
Wojnarowski claims that there is “no clear front-runner” to take over, however Williams may be a contender to take over as Toronto Raptors’ head coach.
