The Phoenix Suns are making progress in their head-coaching search, whittling a list of reportedly more than a dozen down to nine potential leaders — that we know of.
Doing these exercises for future head coaches is always tough because NBA assistants tend to work in relative anonymity.
So I’ve culled features and references of these candidates to help paint a picture of who they are. And while we’re here, sure, let’s order them in terms of most qualified and on down.
Suns head coaching candidates with a ready-to-lead resume
Micah Nori, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant
The sell: Have you watched the T-Wolves over the past few years? Nori quickly became one of the top assistants in the game, filling in for injured head coach Chris Finch to help his stock last year when Finch went down with a knee injury for a first-round series against Phoenix. Minnesota has made the Western Conference Finals two years running, in part because of its star, Anthony Edwards.
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But the coaching staff has also won by navigating a wacky Rudy Gobert trade and then not losing much steam despite trading a star talent in Karl-Anthony Towns. Nori has a lot to do with that. And he’s also a great mid-game interview, with a humor that he uses to disarm and match with honesty to coach his players.
Prior to his run with Minnesota, Nori worked with Michael Malone and the Denver Nuggets from 2015-18.
The concern: Does his personality and approach match with a Booker-led team, let alone one with a college head-coach-turned-GM who wants to create a gritty culture?
Sean Sweeney, Dallas Mavericks assistant
The sell: Sweeney came up as a video coordinator with the New Jersey Nets and got a promotion to the coaching staff in 2013 under then-coach Jason Kidd. Since, he followed Kidd to Milwaukee and became one of the most-involved developers of Giannis Antetokounmpo — the star called him a “best friend” in one interview. If Sweeney’s communication talent is as real as players have told The Athletic’s James Edwards III, then it could fit the Suns’ culture-changing priorities.
Under Kidd now with Dallas, Sweeney deserves credit for building a defense-first roster around a star perimeter player in Luka Doncic. You know, before that trade thing. It’s something that could, in some ways, be recreated in Phoenix around Devin Booker.
The concern: Booker is neither Antetokounmpo nor Doncic. Threading together a true contender around him will require a little more roster balance. That’s not Sweeney’s job necessarily, but much of his experience is extraordinarily unique working with Hall-of-Fame-type stars.
Johnnie Bryant, Cleveland Cavaliers associate head coach
The sell: He’s a player development person first, with stops in Utah, New York and now Cleveland. Bryant gets credit for helping develop Donovan Mitchell in Utah after the two-guard was viewed as a high-ceiling project pick in the draft. Former Knicks forward Julius Randle gave Bryant credit for Bryant landing a brutally honest assessment about Randle’s leadership. Like Sweeney, the relationships with high-profile stars will go a long way toward convincing someone to hire him as a head coach. For good reason.
The concern: His experience as the main voice in the room is limited, having worked his way up in Utah and spent three years under Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks before joining the Cavs in 2024.
Dave Bliss, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant
The sell: Bliss has seen the team leave its Durant-Westbrook-Harden era (he was video analyst and a player development coach from 2010-15) and revamp around young draft picks in the past several years. Now the lead assistant for the Western Conference Finals team, he has seen how a franchise’s success and patience can build a roster of versatile talents, even if they’re not All-Star talents. The Suns should want to build a roster with an eye for talent and alignment with the head coach like Oklahoma City.
The concern: Bliss made a stop from 2015-18 with the New York Knicks and was Germany’s senior national team coach in 2016-17, but he’s otherwise limited to a Thunder experience, where organizational stability might skew how difficult it is to be a head coach in the NBA.
Chris Quinn, Miami Heat assistant
The sell: His NBA playing experience across spurts of 2006-13 is unique among the rest of the candidates. He is viewed as the embodiment of “Heat Culture” and Erik Spoelstra’s right-hand man. That means something working under the most accomplished current NBA coach now that Gregg Popovich has stepped aside in San Antonio. If Quinn coaches like he played, he matches what the Suns have said they want.
The concern: Does Heat Culture translate to Phoenix? And is Quinn well-equipped to helicopter into a different leadership environment and adjust — or able to wall out that different environment to create success in the locker room, similarly to how Monty Williams did en route to an NBA Finals run?
Player development grinders who have put in the time
Summer League head coach Jordan Ott of the Cleveland Cavaliers (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)
Jordan Ott, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant
The sell: He’s gotten some knowledge from Mike Budenholzer, Kenny Atkinson, Jacque Vaughn, Steve Nash and Darvin Ham as his bosses. Ott should also have familiarity with Suns assistant GM Matt Tellem from a run in Brooklyn from 2016-22. The test of Atkinson, Vaughn and Nash with the Nets is especially interesting considering the change that franchise saw under that set of coaches.
He also spent five years as a Michigan State video coordinator.
The concern: It would be a big jump for Ott to take a head coach’s chair.
Steve Hetzel, Brooklyn Nets assistant
The sell: If the Suns are going all-in on Michigan State products to fix this thing, then Hetzel makes sense. That’s some Spartan green alignment. He was a student manager under Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo in the mid-2000s and has since made his mark as a G League head coach and NBA player development coach for teams who’ve needed it (Detroit, Charlotte, Orlando, Portland and Brooklyn).
The concern: The traditional resume for a first-time coach isn’t there, and there is a lack of depth of experience in terms of managing superstars that we presume will come in handy at least a little bit if Phoenix wants to quickly pivot and reload.
Former head coaches with slim odds
Head coach James Borrego of the Charlotte Hornets (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
James Borrego, New Orleans Pelicans assistant
The sell: A well-respected member of the Popovich coaching tree, it’s hard to knock Borrego too much for a 148-183 record at stops in Orlando and Charlotte. In fact, that’s pretty darn good. He has a strong command as a leader and has the 2021-22 season where the Hornets were a top-10 offense built around LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Terry Rozier and a few role players like Kelly Oubre Jr. and P.J. Washington.
The concern: There’s not much defensive success on Borrego’s resume as a head coach, despite having young, wing-heavy, bouncy rosters for much of his time with the Hornets.
David Fizdale, Suns assistant
The sell: Fizdale might still have some Heat lessons to teach from his 2008-16 run in Miami, but at this point, his strength would be relationship-building. If he’s got the ears of Booker and possibly Durant, there is value there, because the Suns can’t change anything unless there’s buy-in. And Fizdale being on the last two head coaches’ staffs means he’s got a front-row seat to the why of what’s gone wrong lately.
The concern: As an NBA head coach, Fizdale floundered at both his stops: Memphis and New York. He lasted a season-and-a-half at each stop, and the main ingredient in his head-coaching juice is simply how well he can connect with the current Suns. More promotion from within of a 36-win team would not go over well.
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