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On to the show!

Suns’ Coaching Search Reportedly Down to 8 Names

What a difference a few days make.

When the PHNX Sports Daily published last Friday, I wrote about the Suns’ coaching search and how new GM Brian Gregory was methodically conducting interviews for a hire that is critical to establishing success early in his tenure.

The plot has thickened.

The Suns have narrowed their coaching search, at least according to NBA Insider Marc Stein, who reported on Sunday the team was down to seven candidates.

Stein said Gregory is essentially about to start a second round of interviews that will help whittle the list down further until the GM ultimately has three finalists.

Insider Jake Fischer posted on X later in the day that Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn was also in the mix, bringing the second-round total to eight candidates.

Reports Indicate Suns’ Search Focused Entirely on Assistant Coaches

Stein indicated the seven candidates are all current assistant coaches, all with varying degrees of experience. Current Suns assistant David Fizdale’s name was included, and the 50-year-old is one of only two of the names listed who has been an NBA head coach.

Fizdale coached Memphis in 2016-17 and the Knicks in 2018-19, but was fired in the early stages of his second season with each respective team. He’s 71-134 as a head coach, and was an assistant on both Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer’s Phoenix staffs.

New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego also has head coaching experience, as he was interim coach for the Orlando Magic for 30 games in 2014-15, and he guided the Charlotte Hornets for four seasons from 2018-2022. He’s 148-183 as a head coach, and has yet to guide a team to the postseason.

The other six assistants Stein and Fischer listed are:

• Sean Sweeney (Dallas Mavericks)

• Johnnie Bryant (Cleveland Cavs)

• Jordan Ott (Cleveland Cavs)

• Steve Hetzel (Brooklyn Nets)

• Micah Nori (Minnesota Timberwolves)

• Chris Quinn (Miami Heat)

My Take: I mean, my overarching opinion has not changed since Friday, but it’s interesting to see that there’s clear direction to engage an assistant as opposed to a more experienced head coach. To be fair, that approach hasn’t worked recently, either. For crying out loud, Budenholzer was a hometown hero, two-time NBA Coach of the Year, and even defeated the Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals, and he barely lasted a season.

Will be interested to watch this continue to unfold.

Take a Deeper Dive: Make sure to check out the NBA Diehard Draft Guide — Led by ALLCITY draft analysts Derek Bodner of PHLY and Will Gottlieb of CHGO, this guide is your one-stop-shop as teams across the league gear up to reshape their rosters

Note the Diehard draft guide is best viewed on desktop or tablet!

Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley

Is a Bad Series Win Possible?: OK, so there’s plenty to be happy about with the D-backs lately — They are 6-4 in their last 10 games, remain just four games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and have won two series in a row, but the past weekend was hardly reassuring.

Arizona struggled mightily against the eight-win Rockies in the second and third games of the weekend series, falling 14-12 to a historically bad team before hanging on to win yesterday’s rubber match 1-0. Look, a win is a win, but a three-game road trip in Los Angeles against the division-leading Dodgers looms large today.

That’s How You Start a Season: The Mercury kicked off their season with an 81-59 win over Storm on Saturday, a promising start for a new-look team. Newcomer Satou Sabally led all scorers with 27 points while chipping in six rebounds, while Alyssa Thomas contributed 20 points of her own.

It wasn’t all smiles, though, as key contributor Kahleah Copper is expected to miss four-to-six weeks after undergoing a successful left knee arthroscopy. Phoenix is back in action on Wednesday, hosting the Los Angeles Sparks at 7 pm (Arizona’s Family Sports).

Diamonds Are Forever: The Wildcats softball team put on a strong showing at the NCAA Regional, advancing to the Regional Final where they run-ruled Ole Miss in the first game before heartbreakingly falling 7-3 in Game 2 to end their season.

The baseball team, meanwhile, clinched a first-round bye at the Big 12 Tournament this week after finishing the regular season 36-18, and 18-12 in the Big 12. The 36 wins are the most for a Wildcats baseball team since it recorded 40 in 2021. Arizona will face the winner of ASU/BYU on Thursday (7 am, ESPN+).

More From the Field: The ASU softball team’s season ended with heartbreak, falling in 4-3 to UC Santa Barbara in the 10th inning of an elimination game on Saturday. Huge shoutout to pitcher Kenzie Brown, who threw 164 pitches in 9.2 innings of work, allowing just two hits while striking out 11.

The baseball team dropped its season finale at Oklahoma State, and though the Sun Devils still finished the season 35-21 and 18-12 in the Big 12, they enter this week’s Big 12 Tournament as the No. 5 seed, and will face the 12th-seeded BYU Cougars on Wednesday (7 am, ESPN+). If ASU wins, it will face the fourth-seeded Wildcats on Thursday.

There’s (Finally) No Place Like Home: Rising FC won at home for the first time this season, defeating Monterey Bay 2-0 behind goals from JP Scearce and Ryan Flood. Phoenix has won back-to-back games for the first time this season, and is back in action on Wednesday, May 28 at Las Vegas.

🧢 Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills

Phenomenal coverage from our PHNX Cards crew at Kyler Murray’s celebrity softball game! Check out their X account for so many meaningful interviews!