When the 2024 NBA offseason officially approaches its dog days, Mike Budenholzer, the recently appointed head coach of the Phoenix Suns, has a lot on his plate. The Suns, who have handicapped their future selves to field Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker on the same team in the present, are somehow not competitive in the Western Conference, and Budenholzer inherits possibly the most onerous job in the entire NBA.
The outcome from the previous year was a first-round playoff sweep at the hands of Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, in addition to the team’s incapacity to assemble a strong group in the offseason. But it seems like Budenholzer is doing his share to ensure that the sidelines are as ready as possible to support the team’s success.
“Sources tell ESPN that Brent Barry, who worked in the Spurs front office for the previous six seasons, is going to be an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns. During his 14-year playing career, Barry was a part of two NBA titles, according to NBA expert Adrain Wojnarowski of ESPN on X, the social networking site that was formerly known as Twitter.
Naturally, Barry was a longtime player for the Spurs and saw tremendous success with the team during their dynastic run. Since then, he has established himself as one of the best players in the league and is well aware of how the game has changed so rapidly in the previous few years in terms of analysis.
In the west, can the Suns compete?
As of right now, the Phoenix Suns are firmly behind the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, and Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference hierarchy. There are also a number of other teams in the mix, including the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs, who should be much improved.
The fact that the Suns’ star trio occasionally seemed to balance each other out while escalating each other’s shortcomings was a major contributing factor to a great deal of their issues from a year ago. While dealing with a wealth of talent that obviously doesn’t fit together will be a new challenge for the former NBA championship winning coach, Budenholzer has demonstrated the ability to make the most out of rosters that are flawed due to a general lack of potential.
Whatever the case, the NBA schedule is expected to be made public in August.