Suns fire Williams after latest playoff elimination
New Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia has promised to be active. On Saturday he made his second big step.
Three months after his blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant, Ishbia made his second big step as the owner of the Suns. Two days after Phoenix lost a home elimination game by 30 points for the second straight season, Ishbia fired head coach Monty Williams.
Williams is the second senior member of the organization to leave the organization since Ishbia bought the team from controversial former owner Robert Sarver, who was suspended by the NBA for a year. CEO Jason Rowley resigned shortly after Ishbia’s purchase, a clear sign that Ishbia wanted his own people in charge.
After leading the Suns to the NBA Finals in 2021 and winning NBA Coach of the Year in 2022 after a 64-win season, Williams was shamefully fired. Though Denver was the top seed and Phoenix lost Chris Paul through injury, a second straight round elimination seemed too much for Ishbia.
Williams joins Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer as NBA Finals coaches for the past four years who are unemployed. Reaching the finals or even winning a title doesn’t guarantee much job security in the NBA anymore, although all three of these coaches should be prime candidates for open head coaching jobs.
The Suns’ lack of depth was evident against the Nuggets, although this was caused by the Durant trade and not Williams’ actions. But Ishbia seems determined to reshape the team with center Deandre Ayton on the swap list, as is Paul and his partially guaranteed deal.
Should GM James Jones be worried too? Ishbia is close to Isiah Thomas, although he denied in February that Thomas had a role with the Suns “at that point”.
However, May is not the same time as February. Could Thomas lead the Post-Sarver Suns? If Ishbia fired Williams, then why not a general manager who he didn’t hire either?
The new owner appears to be surrounding himself with Michigan basketball people. Thomas is his friend. Former Ishbia Michigan State teammate Mateen Cleaves attended the Suns’ playoff games and worked for Ishbia’s mortgage brokerage firm. Could Tom Izzo be lured to the NBA by his old player from the Spartans?
There will be a lot of changes around Durant, Devin Booker and Ishbia this summer. Head coach could be just the beginning.