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Phoenix Suns: Tom Thibodeau On The Horizon?

By Phil Watson

Jan 30, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts from the sidelines against the Phoenix Suns in the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 30, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts from the sidelines against the Phoenix Suns in the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /
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Head coaches in the NBA, for the most part, are hired to be fired. There are exceptions—Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs comes to mind—but for most of the men who are handed the whiteboard and given the first chair on the bench, the clock is ticking down to their eventual departure from the moment they are introduced at a glitzy press conference.

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Tom Thibodeau’s turn on the carousel ended Thursday when he was fired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls after five seasons and a .647 winning percentage.

The immediate speculation was that Thibodeau would be a leading contender for openings with the Orlando Magic or the New Orleans Pelicans.

But something funny happened on the way to those pairings.

The Magic named former Phoenix Suns, Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles as their guy on Friday.

Then on Saturday, the Pelicans came to terms with Golden State Warriors lead assistant Alvin Gentry—a former head coach of the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers and Suns—on a four-year deal.

That leaves the Denver Nuggets as the only team currently without a head coach and a Thibodeau-Denver pairing seems unlikely, at best. The Nuggets, throughout their history, have only had a passing acquaintance with defense, thus making the hiring of a defense-first, offense-optional guy in Thibodeau unrealistic.

That’s not to say an opening couldn’t materialize from somewhere else in the NBA’s lower echelon.

But when looking at that group of teams—the non-playoff squads of 2014-15—it’s hard to see where an opening could be created.

Flip Saunders, president-coach-part-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, gave no indication at season’s end that he planned to relinquish the coaching job.

Does anyone really see Phil Jackson of the New York Knicks admitting he was wrong and dumping Derek Fisher after a 17-win season and the uncomfortable specter of the triangle turning into some sort of amorphous parallelogram?

The Philadelphia 76ers remain committed to Brett Brown as the guy to lead them out of the wilderness after two seasons of playing for five years from now.

Byron Scott is a member of the Los Angeles Lakers’ family, bearer of three rings while in the purple-and-gold, and the Lakers don’t tend to discard people with strong ties to the organization, even after a franchise-record 61 losses in Scott’s first season on the bench.

The Sacramento Kings have fired two head coaches within the last six months (Michael Malone, Tyrone Corbin) and committed to George Karl—at least as much as the Kings seem to commit to anyone.

Stan Van Gundy just finished his first season as president and head coach of the Pistons and isn’t likely to fire himself.

Steve Clifford will be back for at least one more year with the Charlotte Hornets, earning that with a surprise playoff run a season ago.

Erik Spoelstra of Miami isn’t going anywhere. He’s Pat Riley’s guy.

Frank Vogel of the Indiana Pacers and Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz each guided teams to strong finishes.

That leaves us with one potential, possible, maybe-could-happen coaching vacancy in the NBA.

With reports that Fred Hoiberg is about to be Thibodeau’s replacement in Chicago, Don Doxsie of the Quad City (Iowa) Times speculated that Iowa State might look to another graduate of its program to take over if Hoiberg bolts.

Suns coach Jeff Hornacek.

His rationale is sound, if coming off as more than just a little bit of wishful thinking. Doxsie recalled Hornacek’s words when hired by the Suns two years ago:

"“My goal was never to be a coach in the NBA. I always felt I would coach, but I thought that would be on the college level.”"

It’s also worth noting that Hornacek is entering the lame-duck season of his three-year contract, a position few coaches want to find themselves in.

Hornacek was tight-lipped about the Iowa State rumors while with Burns and Gambo of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on Thursday.

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    • “I can’t comment on that,” Hornacek said. “I’m the coach of the Suns. It’s an interesting coaching carousel that goes on around the league and even down to the college level. So, if those things ever come about and the timing was right, yes, but as far as I know I’m the coach of the Suns.”

    As far as he knows, Hornacek is the coach of the Suns.

    And that is something—as past coaching searches in various sports should have taught us—that can change as easily as said coach deciding to coach somewhere else.

    That could open up another head coaching job in the NBA, but would Thibodeau fit in Phoenix?

    It would certainly be the antithesis of Mike D’Antoni’s seven seconds or less era, to be sure.

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