Report: Suns Not Retaining Veteran Assistant

Jordan Ott will not be keeping this well-respected coach around in Phoenix.

Nov 2, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns assistant coach David Fizdale against the San Antonio Spurs at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- As new Phoenix Suns coach Jordan Ott works to build out his staff, one potential name can reportedly be ruled out.

Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro reported on X Tuesday:

"David Fizdale will not be retained by Jordan Ott."

David Fizdale will not be retained by Jordan Ott. https://t.co/q4VvRqZVB5

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 10, 2025

Fizdale, who was the only holdover from Frank Vogel's coaching staff in the 2023-24 season to Mike Budenholzer's staff this past season, was held in high regard during his time in Phoenix.

The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin reported last month that there was "a chance" Fizdale remained on the staff of the Suns' next coach, which is now Ott, but that will not be the case even with Gambadoro reporting that Ott will be looking for a former head coach as his top assistant.

Fizdale, who was also one of several finalists for the Suns' head coach opening before it went to Ott, was previously the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies (2016-17) and New York Knicks (2018-19) and also has several years of assistant coaching experience.

Ott will face some difficulties in trying to find assistants with the Knicks having the only other head coaching vacancy in the league, making it harder to pull assistants away from teams with already set staffs.

With that said, Ott has reportedly hired DeMarre Carroll, who was an assistant with him on the Cleveland Cavaliers this past season, onto his staff. You can read more about that by clicking here.

Ott knows what it takes to be a quality assistant, as he spent 12 years building up the ranks on different NBA staffs before landing his first head coaching gig with the Suns. He outlined what he was looking for in his staff in his introductory press conference Tuesday.

"You want your staff to be high character and high care, so who they are as people: loyal, trustworthy; and then do they do the work?" Ott said. "And if we can consistently find that in our staff, we're in good shape.

"I'll also say I have so much respect for the coaching profession that we know how hard it is to rise in this profession, and how hard it is when some type of change like this occurs. So we're going to take our time. We're going to fill this thing out right again to help our group, help our players, make sure we're all on the same page. But yes, we will be building our staff out throughout the month."