Suns Explain Decision to Fire Mike Budenholzer

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns wasted no time letting go first-year coach Mike Budenholzer after their season concluded Sunday, firing him just one day after their final game.

This was the first of many changes expected by Phoenix this summer, and also the first and only before owner Mat Ishbia, general manager James Jones and CEO Josh Bartelstein held their end-of-season press conferences on Thursday.

As expected, Ishbia, Jones and Bartelstein fielded several questions about the firing, which followed a season in which the Suns went 36-46 and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season despite having the highest payroll in NBA history.

Here was Ishbia's explanation when asked about what went wrong with Budenholzer:

"The team and the roster that was constructed by James, Josh, the scouts, the front office is much better than a 36-win roster," Ishbia said. "There's a lot of reasons why Coach Bud's not here. I'm not going to get to all those reasons, but definitely believe we should have won a lot more games and been a lot more competitive during those games as well.

"Wish him the best, but it was the wrong coach for our organization and for that team, and at the end of the day, you can blame me for it, because I'm the owner at the end of the day."

Budenholzer signed a five-year, $50 million contract when he was hired by the Suns last summer. He became the third coach Phoenix has fired in as many seasons, joining Monty Williams and Frank Vogel.

The Suns will owe Budenholzer the remaining $40 million over the next four years if he is not hired by another team. His hiring last May came only two days after Vogel was fired following Phoenix being swept in the first round last year.

"I think it was evident given the time crunch and given where we were that it wasn't as thorough or as deep of a search as we would like," Jones said. "Fortunately for us, the season ended early so it gives us more time to get this right. Unfortunately, the season ended too early, which means that we're in this position, but we're going to be diligent."

Several reports have come out since Budenholzer's firing that he failed to connect with his key players, mainly the franchise cornerstone in Devin Booker.

While the Suns were in turmoil this season, the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies all made midseason or very late firings of experienced coaches, even with them all making at least the play-in with some of the reasoning being to try to give them a spark late in the year.

Ishbia was asked on Arizona Sports' Burns And Gambo Show if the Suns considered firing Budenholzer during the season.

"Maybe we should have (fired Budenholzer late in the season). Maybe we should have done something different with that," Ishbia said. "In retrospect, could we have done something to spur a little bit of a jumpstart in the team? Maybe, I don't know.

"All season, I watched every game ... and there's a lot of things you look at. There's a lot of reasons that Coach Bud is not with us, I'm not going to get into all those reasons because there's a lot more in-depth stuff we're going to talk about here."

Did the Suns consider firing Mike Budenholzer during the season?

Suns owner Mat Ishbia shares his thoughts on that question with @BurnsAndGambo. pic.twitter.com/pUdTUEcfpm
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) April 18, 2025

Ishbia and the Suns are under a lot of pressure to change the organization's outlook and that could start by hiring the right coach.

Ishbia discussed what he's look for in the next coach of the Suns.

“We're going to look for someone that fits the vision of the Phoenix Suns basketball organization," Ishbia said. "Someone who is going to live out exactly what I'm talking about. Someone who is a little bit grimy, a little bit grinder, a little bit tough. Have a little bit of that in them.

"I joke, but it's true, I'm no talent, all heart. That's my life. I will just outwork everyone. I'm going to have a coach, a front office, players, that the Phoenix community will love because it's going to be that."