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[Phoenix Suns]

Phoenix Suns make it official: Jordan Ott is the new head coach

Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

The Phoenix Suns are betting on connection over clout with their latest coaching hire.

The Phoenix Suns are preparing to enter their 58th season as a franchise. Fifty-eight seasons of ‘almost’. Fifty-eight seasons of ‘what if’. A history steeped in heartbreak, defined by brilliance that always seemed to fall just short of glory.

Now, the team stands at yet another crossroads.

Since Mat Ishbia took the reins, stability on the sidelines has vanished. Monty Williams was shown the door. Frank Vogel followed. Mike Budenholzer didn’t last more than a year either. And so, as the Suns prepare to name their fourth head coach in as many seasons. This isn’t just about a clipboard and a whistle. It’s about vision. Identity. Alignment. The will to steer a franchise aching to matter again.

And into that void steps Jordan Ott, who was announced as the 23rd head coach in Phoenix Suns history on Wednesday.

The Phoenix Suns plan to hire Jordan Ott as their head coach sources confirm.

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 4, 2025​

The organization has made its call, and Jordan Ott is the choice. A decade of NBA experience accompanies him, carved out across multiple franchises and levels within the league.

Like so many coaches before him, Ott began in the dim-lit back rooms as a video coordinator, first at Michigan State (where he earned his master’s), then on to Mike Budenholzer’s staff in Atlanta. His climb was steady, not flashy. From there, Brooklyn came calling in 2016, where he worked alongside Kenny Atkinson and stayed through the opening act of the Steve Nash era, coaching stars like Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. In 2022, he shifted to Los Angeles, joining Darvin Ham’s Lakers staff, before reuniting last season with Atkinson in Cleveland.

The wrinkle, the one some fans can’t seem to let go of, is that Michigan State connection. The implication being...what? That a video coordinator gig and a graduate degree from the same university as Mat Ishbia somehow taints his résumé? I don’t buy it. And frankly, it feels like a hollow objection. It’s not a scandal for a team owner to want people in his organization who share his values, his approach, and his trust. That happens in every corner of professional sports.

And this isn’t some rinky-dink college program we’re talking about. This is Michigan State, a top-tier, well-respected basketball institution that churns out coaches and players at the highest level. If the loudest knock on Ott is where he cut his teeth, maybe what we’re really witnessing is generational skepticism. Maybe it’s the unfamiliarity of youth, of a new face, of a name without a championship ring already on his hand.

But for a franchise stuck in the rut of chasing yesterday’s names and yesterday’s narratives, maybe that’s exactly what this team needs.

Ott is a young mind with a well-earned reputation for building real, meaningful connections with players, a quality that’s no longer just a nice-to-have in the modern NBA, but a non-negotiable. In Phoenix, we’ve learned that lesson the hard way. The last two coaches who roamed the Suns’ sidelines reportedly struggled to forge that trust, loyalty, and connection within the locker room. And in today’s league — a players’ league through and through — that’s a death sentence.

The days of old-school, hard-nosed coaching have gone the way of the rotary phone. Direct feedback and tough love aren’t extinct, but they’ve been repackaged. You still have to hold stars accountable, but now it’s about delivery: couching critique in relationships, massaging egos while addressing flaws, and building enough equity with players so when the time comes to push, they don’t push back. Monty Williams once mastered that balance in Phoenix before his own favoritism and rigidity cracked the foundation.

After a comprehensive, four-round search that included over 15 candidates, the Suns' ownership and front office aligned on Ott, who joined Coach of the Year Kenny Atkinson's staff last summer and played a key coaching role on the East-best 64-win Cavaliers this season. https://t.co/p0RMv8lj9b

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 4, 2025​

Now, Jordan Ott steps in, and while the fanfare may not be deafening, the implications are real. His first order of business will be assembling a staff, a task as political as it is strategic. The irony, of course, is that he’ll likely have little to no say in shaping the roster he’s tasked with leading. The Suns are navigating a labyrinth of trade scenarios, cap constraints, and free agency puzzles that will leave Ott an NPC in the construction of his own team.

What this hire does signal is a philosophical shift. A recalibration. Phoenix isn’t chasing pedigree this time. They’re chasing fit, culture, and connectivity. And here’s the truth: it’s going to take time. This won’t be an instant turnaround. The road ahead will have potholes, speed bumps, and nights when the fan base wants to hit reset.

My advice? Resist the impulse. Give Ott a real chance. Not one season, not two. Give him three years to build relationships, implement his vision, and etch his identity into this locker room. It’s what this franchise needs. Patience. And the lack thereof is part of why they’re still chasing ghosts of the past.

Culture isn’t built in a press conference. It’s built over time, in film rooms, in off-day conversations, in moments of tension and triumph. Let’s not repeat the mistakes ownership has made. This hire is a good thing. And if we have the patience to let it breathe, it might just be the foundation this team’s been missing.

The Phoenix Suns plan to hire Jordan Ott as their head coach sources confirm.

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 4, 2025​

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Source: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/...-coach-breaking-news-nba-coaching-change-2025

 

[Phoenix Suns]

The brutal truth about Beal’s future in Phoenix? They don’t want him here

Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images

Per Gambo: “They do NOT want him back.”

The Phoenix Suns have finally filled the two most visible seats at the table: a general manager and a head coach. But now comes the real reckoning. Their gaze must turn inward, toward a bloated, miscast roster in desperate need of salvation. They are paying for the sins of summers past. The wild, hubristic swings made under the intoxicating glow of potential, and the road to redemption will require many Our Fathers, a rosary or two, and perhaps a few stiff drinks to numb the ache of regret.

Chief among those sins is the acquisition of Bradley Beal, a move that felt reckless in real time and has only curdled further with age. Beal arrived in Phoenix two summers ago, dragging a Titanic-sized contract behind him and armed with the rare, player-empowering no-trade clause. It was a deal so universally derided that even the most optimistic Suns apologists could only squint and hope.

The front office, drunk on the intoxicating label of “All-Star,” convinced themselves that Beal would be the missing relic needed to fill the dusty, vacant space on their championship mantle. He wasn’t.

Two years later, the franchise is still buckling beneath the weight of that decision.

The NBA is a cold, unsentimental business, but this one remains personal. A ghost in the machine. The problem now is what to do next. Beal holds all the cards, the no-trade clause a force field against the franchise’s buyer’s remorse. As local insider John Gambadoro has candidly noted, the Suns would prefer he not return.

They do NOT want him back. But he is untradable and if he does not agree to a buyout they may be stuck with him. One of the questions they asked candidates during the coaching cycle was what you would do with Beal. They 100% don't want him and are looking at how to get out. https://t.co/skFOPh7T1r

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 5, 2025​

Preference means little when the ink on the contract has long since dried, and the player controls his own fate. The path forward is murky, and perhaps, like all flawed quests for redemption, it begins with simply admitting the mistake aloud.

It’s an awkward situation. One that, if we’re being honest, I’ve probably beaten to death on this website in a hundred different ways. Through words, rants, sighs, and the occasional existential crisis masquerading as a blog post, I’ve laid bare how I feel about this entire Bradley Beal saga.

And let’s be clear: I hold no animosity toward the man himself. I’ve met him. He’s a good dude. This isn’t about the person. It’s about the organization that allowed this slow-motion car wreck to happen and keeps trying to drive through the debris like everything’s fine. Ishbia continues to try to absolve himself of handling the acquisition. yEaH. OkAy. wE bEliEvE yOu.

What’s maddening is how a player of Beal’s talent, albeit one with a body made of wishbones and duct tape, has become such a source of disdain. Not because of anything he’s done, but because his contract has financially handcuffed this franchise in a way that feels almost biblical in its stubbornness.

If you asked me, in a vacuum, with no strings attached, if I wanted Bradley Beal back next season? You already know the answer. It’s no. His on-court presence is duplicative of Devin Booker’s, and no matter how you try to massage the rotations, you end up with your franchise star playing out of position to accommodate a move that never made sense in the first place.

That contract, one Beal negotiated smartly, mind you, with a poorly run Wizards franchise, is absurd for any team to have taken on. For the Suns to do it, when they were already thin on assets and financial flexibility, was the kind of decision you look back on years later with the same sinking feeling you get when you remember an ex’s name and shudder involuntarily. His presence is the primary blockade to this team’s ability to genuinely retool. It might not be obvious in every possession, but it’s the stick in the spokes of the franchise’s future.

Reports are swirling now that the Suns don’t want him back. No surprise there. But Beal holds all the cards, and the Suns have no leverage.

What they do have is an inflated payroll, a newly minted GM with no experience navigating a quagmire like this, and a gnawing desire to move on from a decision they never should have made. What happens next? Buyout? Buyout and stretch? Pay him and pray? Nobody knows. But one thing is certain: no matter how this ends, the Suns lose. And it’s entirely their own doing.

As they pivot toward whatever this next era is supposed to be, trying to change the culture and identity of a franchise stained by reckless decision-making, it’s going to take years. Not a season. Not a trade deadline. Years. The system needs to be vetted, the waters need to be purified, and the ghosts of poor decisions past need to be exorcised. This is penance now. And the road ahead is long.

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Source: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/...-problems-offseason-plans-devin-booker-future

 

[Phoenix Suns]

Is ESPN’s No. 25 NBA Draft prospect, French PG Nolan Traore, a good fit for Suns?

Photo by Esra Bilgin/Anadolu via Getty Images

The lengthy point guard comes with a wealth of pro basketball experience.

French point guard Nolan Traore entered the 2025 NBA Draft cycle firmly in most experts’ top 10s, but some underwhelming production this season saw him tumble down boards and into the Phoenix Suns’ draft range.

If you haven’t heard by now, Phoenix is set to pick 29th in the first round and 52nd in the second.

Given its payroll situation, it’d be smart to maximize both picks and find controllable assets who can contribute, rather than parlaying them for established players as has been the habit at times in recent memory.

The 6-foot-5 Traore could be a perfect example of that, given that if he can be a point guard of the future, suddenly Devin Booker has his backcourt mate under team control for potentially the rest of his NBA career.

Playing for Saint-Quentin in the French LNB Pro A — the same league Victor Wembanyama played in his final year before getting drafted — Traore averaged 11.6 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 22.6 minutes per game.

nolan traore did a good job in this game of weathering a rocky start that included some poor shot selection for him and a 15-0 deficit to start for the team.

settled the offense down, competed defensively and turned things around for a 16-point win. pic.twitter.com/Xrfy11b7uG

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) June 6, 2025​

The assists were the only stat that didn’t see an uptick from his first season in France’s top division in 2023-24 (5.4 assists per game), but his turnovers did come down from 3.1 to 2.5 turnovers.

His 3-point shooting also jumped to a career-high 30.4% this season, including 43% over his last 10 games. He was below 30% each of his prior four seasons, including three in France’s third division before making the jump.

In total, he’s played 158 games of international or professional basketball, offering a wealth of experience that most others in the class, let alone domestically, just can’t. Most of that time was spent as the engine of his team’s offense, too.

So what kind of initiator is Traore?

You know how annoying it would get when the Suns brought the ball across halfcourt much too close to 16 seconds on the shot clock much too often? That doesn’t happen with Traore, as he’s far more interested in keeping the defense on its heels.

He’s crafty enough to capitalize by utilizing every inch and degree of an angle to his advantage. Sometimes that leads to plays on the weirder side, and other times he’s happy to take the easy opportunity.

think the two biggest things that stand out for me with french point guard nolan traore are his pace of play (usually fast) and his understanding of angles, whether they be of the passing or handling variety pic.twitter.com/Qc9BiEaOZO

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) June 6, 2025​

While it’s hard to know exactly what the Jordan Ott offense will look like in Phoenix, there may be indicators in the Cleveland Cavaliers leading the league in offensive rating (121.0) and being top 10 in pace (100.31 possessions per game).

Traore fits the billing for that kind of offense not only with how he pushes the pace, but also with how he takes care of the ball. He’s carried an assist-to-turnover ratio of roughly 2-1 dating back to his final season in France’s third division, three years ago.

It’s easy to imagine him as a transition running mate for Devin Booker, similar to how transition looked at times with Mikal Bridges.

However, Traore has boxes to check first.

Yes, the deep shot is trending up, but a hot streak to end the campaign is the only reason he’s above 30% for a season for the first time in his career. That career sample is a big reason why he would be in Phoenix’s range at all.

He needs to put on some muscle mass, especially on his upper body. This is, of course, true for any teenager in the draft, but it’s become even more true with where the NBA is trending in recent years. Not to mention how much he loves to attack the paint, so he needs the power to hold up.

Saint-Quentin’s Nolan Traoré’s anthro measurements + athletic testing results from the 2025 NBA Draft Combine activities in Treviso:

6’3" barefoot, 175 lbs, 6’8” wingspan, 8’5 ½" reach, 7 ¾" x 9 ¼" hands

Sprint: 3.26
Pro Lane: 10.75
Shuttle: 2.85
No-Step Vert: 28”
Max Vert: 34” pic.twitter.com/9gTACGO9IS

— Jon Chepkevich (@JonChep) June 5, 2025​

Lastly — and this is another one that’s true for 99% of teenage prospects — his processing can get a few steps quicker. He’s already ahead of defenses, but if his reaction time was even quicker, he could prove lethal for years to come.

Bottom line: There won’t be many talents like Traore as far back as the Suns are slated to, and if he’s there, he’s worth the chance.

A rookie campaign with usage similar to, or even higher than, Ryan Dunn could be enough to set him on the right path, should he come in with a similar approach.

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Listen to the latest episode of the Suns JAM Session Podcast below. To stay up to date on every episode, subscribe to the pod on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Podbean, or Castbox.

Please subscribe, rate, and review.

Source: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/...ct-french-pg-nolan-traore-a-good-fit-for-suns