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The Phoenix Suns reportedly plan to hire former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer for the same position hours after the sudden firing of Frank Vogel, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Athletic's Shams Charania on Friday (May 10).
Budenholzer, an Arizona native who led the Bucks to an NBA championship in 2021 and was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2019 during his first year with the franchise, was fired by the team in 2023 after Milwaukee finished the 2022-23 regular season with the best record in the NBA, but was upset by the eighth-seed Miami Heat in five games during the first-round of the 2023 Eastern Conference playoffs.
"The Phoenix Suns plan to hire Bucks champion Mike Budenholzer as their head coach on deal expected to approach eight figures per year, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The Holbrook, Ariz., native will be tasked with optimizing Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal," Charania wrote on his X account.
Budenholzer went 271-120 during five seasons with the Bucks, which included finishing first in the Central Division standings each year. The 54-year-old had previously gone 213-197 during five seasons as the Hawks' head coach from 2013-18.
Budenholzer was reported to be a "prominent part" of the Suns' search following Vogel's firing on Thursday (May 9), ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the time. The veteran coach is the third hired by Phoenix in the last three seasons following Vogel and Monty Williams, who was the 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year and led Phoenix to an NBA Finals appearance in 2021, having been rewarded with a multi-year extension in 2022, before being fired after a 45-37 regular season finish and Western Conference semifinals series loss.
Vogel, 50, led the Suns to a 49-33 regular season record, ranking sixth in the Western Conference, before being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first-round of the Western Conference Playoffs. The veteran coach previously won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers during the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 season and was the first coaching hire made under owner Mat Ishbia, who took over the team in December 2022.