The Phoenix Suns are hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott to be their new head coach, reports Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro.
Phoenix hired Ott after an extensive coaching search, one that allowed patience with no other NBA team holding a head-coaching vacancy until the New York Knicks dismissed Thibodeau after their Eastern Conference finals run.
The Suns spoke with more than a dozen candidates before going through three more rounds of interviews that whittled the group down from eight, to five and then to two. Ott got the job over fellow Cavaliers assistant and associate head coach Johnnie Bryant.
Ott comes in as the 23rd head coach in franchise history and will look to get the Suns back on track after three very disappointing seasons while creating some stabilization for an organization that hasn’t had any recently in the position.
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This is the first time that the Suns will start a season with a different head coach for the fourth straight season. Monty Williams’ four-year tenure came to an end after the 2022-23 season and an NBA Finals run in 2021.
He was replaced by Frank Vogel in owner Mat Ishbia’s first hire. Vogel’s firing after a season and sweep in the first round of the playoffs led to Mike Budenholzer, who also lasted one season with no playoff berth at all.
Phoenix won 45 regular-season games the year before Williams was fired, 49 under Vogel and 36 this past season with Budenholzer leading the way.
Ott takes the job with the understanding that the Suns’ roster will be undergoing a makeover in the offseason. Phoenix is widely expected to trade Kevin Durant, while the future of Bradley Beal is up in the air as well. It also has eight players who are either free agents this summer or have a non-guaranteed deal.
There will be a large amount of skepticism from the fanbase and media that Ott will have to overcome immediately, as his Michigan State background will bring pause on how much that allowed him to get this job.
Ishbia, a former player on the Spartans basketball team, hired Brian Gregory this offseason to be the team’s new general manager, a long-time collegiate head coach who was an assistant that coached Ishbia at Michigan State but lacks NBA and front office experience.
Ott was with Michigan State’s program from 2006-13.
Jordan Ott’s background before becoming the new Phoenix Suns head coach
Ott has largely worked with two head coaches over his time in the NBA, Budenholzer and current Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson. He got his start on Budnholzer’s staff in Atlanta from 2013-18 before joining Atkinson and others in Brooklyn from 2018-22. He then was with the Lakers the next two seasons under Darvin Ham before rejoining Atkinson in Cleveland this past season.
Ott’s background largely began in the film room, where he worked for the Spartans before helping Budenholzer and others. His resume is heavy on player development, where he is largely credited in playing a part in a breakout 2024-25 campaign for Cleveland All-Star Evan Mobley.
This is the first hiring made by Gregory. Both he and Ishbia spoke on the importance of establishing an identity and strengthening the connection of that across the organization, something that will surely be seen as Ott’s primary responsibility in helping cultivate.
As far as the on-court product and the results, Ishbia and Gregory stressed a hard-nosed style centered around effort and toughness, with a level of energy Ishbia felt will be one the fanbase gravitates toward after a frustrating product to watch the last two seasons.
That will have to come with a good rapport working with star guard Devin Booker. Despite two straight massively disappointing seasons often leading to situations in which trading Booker would either be discussed or done, Booker has repeatedly stated he wants to remain in Phoenix and the Suns themselves do not have any interest in trading him.
Booker was reportedly involved in the hiring process.
How good the roster is for Ott and Booker to compete will be up for debate. Booker has said he has no interest in a rebuild, which speaks to Ishbia’s comments to ESPN in the plan of a “pivot and reload.” While there will be an acceptance that this will be a multi-year process to turn the Suns around, it will likely come with the expectations of a competitive team next season.
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