Phoenix Suns: 5 candidates to replace Igor Kokoskov as head coach

After abruptly and brashly firing Igor Kokoskov, the Phoenix Suns need a new head coach once again. Here are five potential candidates that would make sense.

The Phoenix Suns are a joke, but the thing about repeating the same joke over and over is eventually, it stops being funny. We’re well past that point with the Suns, their impetuous and meddlesome owner, and a front office that’s been nothing but chaotic for almost a decade now.

From goats s***ting in executives’ offices to general managers being fired just days before the start of a new season to hastily trading away washed up veterans who were simply there to collect a paycheck, the Suns — and their fanbase — have endured enough embarrassment for a lifetime. Unfortunately, all three of those examples are from the last year alone, and they’re hardly the only indignities on the list.

The Suns had no established point guard this year, being forced to oscillate between two rookies, Isaiah Canaan, shooting guard Devin Booker and finally, new arrival Tyler Johnson, who’s really more of a combo guard. Robert Sarver has become the Mad King of the NBA, the late-season lineup was littered with rookies and players under the age of 23, and outside of Jamal Crawford, there was no established talent or veteran leaders to help guide this team.

And yet, none of that stopped the Suns from being the Suns and firing head coach Igor Kokoskov after just one season at the helm, as first reported by ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Reverting from their stance of keeping Kokoskov for another year is a boneheaded move on a number of levels. The Suns will never create a sense of stability or culture if they keep swapping head coaches every year, and though Igor wasn’t perfect, he was never given a chance to succeed with that roster.

A 19-63 record was admittedly miserable, and Kokoskov’s rotations were confounding at times, but no one could’ve succeeded with this group, let alone a first-year head coach. His offensive sets were brilliantly devised, and though it felt like he had lost his locker room at various points given the team’s effort throughout the season, that’s usually what happens to most young teams without enough vets to help set the tone.

With Kokoskov out and GM James Jones on the hunt for his own hire, Devin Booker will be moving on to his fifth head coach for his fifth NBA season. Even the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwarts had more job stability than this, and it sets a terrible precedent for convincing Booker this organization isn’t a dumpster fire when he’ll have had five head coaches, two GMs and more than 100 different teammates before his 23rd birthday.

However, as necessary as it is to wallow in Phoenix’s constant, piss-poor decision-making to get a sense of how we got here, it’s already time to move forward. The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery is coming up soon, with a huge offseason and a monumental 2019-20 campaign ahead where growth will be mandatory.

Bearing that in mind, it’s time to take a look at the list potential candidates to replace Kokoskov as the next head coach of the Phoenix Suns. This group is based on the likelihood they’ll be considered, their potential interest in the job, any potential ties to the organization and, of course, the qualifications they actually bring to the table.

Honorable Mentions

• Tyronn Lue — A decent option, but he appears to be a frontrunner for the Los Angeles Lakers gig, and his only success in the NBA came with LeBron James on the roster. The Suns don’t have a LeBron James, so this would be a last resort option.
• Jay Wright — LOLOLOL imagine leaving an NCAA powerhouse to coach for the burning wreckage of this organization! Wright is an excellent coach. That’s why he’s not coming to Phoenix.
• Jason Kidd — This would be a pretty unsavory outcome given his failings with the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets, but because of his connection to Phoenix, Kidd can’t be ruled out.
• Kevin McHale – Jason Kidd would be bad. Kevin McHale, who’s been tied to the Suns multiple times in the past, would be the worst-case scenario.
• Dan Majerle — The Suns connection means Thunder Dan will always appear somewhere on a list like this, but honestly, staying at GCU is probably preferable to this job.
• Steve Nash — Another unrealistic option that’s always bound to show up on a list like this because of his prior connections to the franchise. Don’t ruin Steve Nash too, Suns.
• Juwan Howard — Given his time as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat, and his connection to general manager James Jones during their playing days together, don’t be surprised for Howard’s name to surface at some point.
• Frank Vogel — The Suns need to instill a defensive mindset in their young core, and that’s what Vogel was known for during his time with the Indiana Pacers. Then again, he failed in that same task with the Orlando Magic, a similarly young team with more defensive personnel than Phoenix currently has.
• Joe Prunty — None of Kokoskov’s assistants has been fired, opening up the possibility of an interior hire. It’s an odd move if the idea is to bring in someone new, since most head coaches would want to build their own coaching staff. Stay tuned.
• David Vanterpool — An assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers since 2012, Vanterpool is reportedly one of the top candidates the Suns will interview. Replacing Kokoskov with another assistant who has even less head coaching experience would be … odd, but also very on brand for this team if we’re being completely honest.
• Ronnie Price — Slightly trolling, slightly had to put it on the list because it’d be the most Suns thing ever.