Mike Budenholzer Fired by Suns After Missing NBA Playoffs in 1st Season as HC

The Phoenix Suns have now fired their head coach in three consecutive seasons.

Phoenix fired Mike Budenholzer on Monday after the team finished with a 36-46 record during his first season as head coach.

The news was first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.

This comes as anything but a surprise, as ESPN's Tim MacMahon appeared on SportsCenter and reported on Sunday that there was "widespread anticipation throughout the league" the Suns would move on from the veteran coach following the campaign.

Budenholzer was asked about his future in the week before MacMahon's report and said he was yet to speak to team governor Mat Ishbia about the topic:

Moving on from the head coach is nothing new for the Suns. After all, they fired Monty Williams following the 2022-23 season and then fired Frank Vogel after the 2023-24 campaign.

Yet they at least made the playoffs those seasons and even advanced to the second round in Williams' final year after he led them to the 2021 NBA Finals. By contrast, the 2024-25 Suns were arguably the most disappointing team in the league and didn't even qualify for the Western Conference play-in tournament.

Budenholzer was brought in to maximize the star power on a Phoenix roster that included Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, but he was unable to replicate the success he enjoyed with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks.

He went 213-197 and made the playoffs in four of his five seasons with Atlanta from 2013-14 to 2017-18, including when he reached the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals. He then went 271-120 in five seasons with the Bucks from 2018-19 to 2022-23 and reached the playoffs all five years.

Budenholzer also led the Bucks to the championship in 2021, where he defeated the Suns in the NBA Finals.

Yet his one season with Phoenix was a losing one for an organization that is facing plenty of question marks that extend beyond who the next coach will be at the start of the 2025-26 campaign.

Whether the front office trades Durant is arguably the biggest storylines of the entire upcoming offseason. While he is 36 years old and entering what will be the final season on his contract, he is also still one of the best players in the league and an all-time legend.

Then there is Beal, who is signed through next season with a $57.1 million player option for 2026-27. He also has a no-trade clause that drew plenty of headlines ahead of February's deadline when the Suns were connected to Jimmy Butler but ultimately didn't make the move.

Phoenix also has little salary-cap space to make any meaningful additions in free agency as things stand, which is one reason the trade market will be such a focus during the offseason.

And now the search for a new head coach will be as well after the Suns fired Budenholzer.