HAYNES BRIEFS: The Phoenix Suns narrow coaching candidates to Elite 8, sources tell the NBA Insider.

HAYNES BRIEFS: The Phoenix Suns narrow coaching candidates to Elite 8, sources tell the NBA Insider.

Here, senior NBA insider soon to launch Hannes Briefs YouTube show. Hannes Briefs. How about a round of applause for that? I like that. Hannes briefs. Hannes [Music] briefs. Hannes briefs. Talking about the Hannes report. Yeah, of man. Come on, man. Of course. I don’t know that All right, thank you for coming on again and watching the Hangs Brief Show here on YouTube. Again, please share, comment, subscribe, and put us on instant notifications so you can be notified immediately when we drop new episodes. I dropped the episode last night on Giannis Antmpo and the Bucks. I reported that the Bucks reached out to Giannis Saturday morning and a meeting is scheduled for them to meet up mid this week. And so, um, that’s going to be a very pivotal and crucial meeting. Uh, that could have significant ripple effects across the league depending on what happens and what is said in that meeting. So, go check that episode out, get more information on that. Uh, again, please comment, share, and subscribe. Thank you. Um, so for today, let’s get back on the Suns. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Suns over the last few months and for very good reason. There’s a lot going on over there in Phoenix, but as of right now, the coaching search is underway and the, you know, the Suns have a new general manager, Brian Gregory, who has taken over for James Jones. He’s running the show over there. He’s running the coaching search. And those who aren’t familiar with Brian Gregory, longtime coach in the college ranks, he’s a really good coach. You hear a lot of good things about him um during his time. Um his coaching profession spans over three decades. Assistant coach and head head coach in college for 20 plus years. So this is a guy who is you know this is his expertise in the coaching rank. So he’s running the show and so what I can report is the second round is about to start. Suns have interviewed tons of candidates. Uh but now the list has shrked down to the second round field of eight. Eight candidates. And so here are the eight candidates who have made it to the second round. I’m about to report eight names who have advanced to the second round of the Suns coaches search for the next head coach of the franchise. Number one, we’re going to start with Dallas Maverick’s assistant, Sean Sweeney. Sean Sweeney, a longtime assistant. Um, he’s somebody who was well respected across the league. Um, spent time with multiple stars. He understands the relationship dynamic that takes. So, Sean Sweeney has advanced to the second round. Number two, Suns assistant coach David Fisdale. David Fisdale has advanced to the second round. somebody who again um longtime assistant coach. He’s had some head coaching stints as well. He’s somebody who, you know, few years back turned down the Sun’s head coaching job when um the previous owner was there, Robert Sarver, and he ended up going to the New York Knicks and taking that head coaching job. So, but he’s somebody who’s been around a long time, great assistant coach, um has great relationship with star players. He’s up there. Pelicans assistant, James Burgago. You know, he’s a guy who has head coaching experience as well. Longtime assistant, he’s done a phenomenal job. Has a great relationship. Well respected uh well respected guy. Cavs assistant, coach Johnny Bryant. He’s somebody who we’ve always known at one day is going to be a head coach in this in the NBA. Has done a phenomenal job at New York Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s he is definitely somebody who is is knocking at the door and sooner or later that door is going to open wide open for him to to take a head coaching seat and it could be in Phoenix. Uh the other candidate, um Cavs assistant coach, Jordan. Again, longtime assistant coach, well respected, um great player, great in player development. He’s expanded his role since as he’s elevated. He used um he was an assistant coach with the Lakers as well. Nets assistant coach Steve Hel. He’s with the Nets right now, but prior to that, he’s with the Portland Trailblazers. I know uh from talking with Damen Lillard. When Damen Little was in Portland, he raved about Steve. And so, this is another um longtime assistant coach who is again knocking at the door. T-wolves assistant, Micah Nory. We all, you know, Micah, he’s he’s right now working for the Minnesota Timberwolves. So, they’re they’re waiting on their opponent right now. They’re in the Western Conference Finals. Michael Nory, man, he’s a really good he he right now his role in Minnesota, he pretty much does it all, but he does game management, um, substitution patterns and things like that, but he’s a really bright guy, and he’s a really great and funny interview. He he just gives the best interview whenever Finch is kicked out the game. He he may step in and and be the interim coach for that game, and he just gives the greatest interviews, you know. He he he’s going to be a prize for sure. And lastly, this is the eighth candidate who has advanced to the second round of the Suns head coaching search, Thunder assistant Dave Bliss. Again, somebody who was well respected, worked his way up from the bottom to be in position to be a prime candidate uh for a head coaching job. So, all these guys very qualified. They’re very ready and very eager to take that next step. But if you look at um the list of these guys, so these this this eight eight candidates right here, if you look at these guys, right, you have the the oldest candidates are Tim’s assistant, Mike Mory, who is 51, David Fale, who is 50, and James Bgo, who is 47. Now, the rest of those guys are early 40s, late 30s. So this is a a young batch of guys and you ask why so young? Why so inexperienced when it comes to I guess the head coaching tenure? Well, these are some of the things that the Suns are looking for in the next candidate. And these are um these are guidelines in which the front office has relayed to these coaching candidates of what they’re looking for. Number one, they want the next coach to build a program. build a program from scratch. Um, where that’s going to consist of holding guys accountable, uh, implementing the structure and making sure there’s discipline within the franchise when it comes to the players in the program. Number two, they want to make sure that the coach’s philosophy aligns with ownership and with the front office. Three, defensive background. That is important, a defensive background. So, even if you’re not somebody who is um specialized in defense, they want to know your defensive philosophy. And also, if you were to get the job, who would be your defensive guy? Who would be somebody that you would um delegate to hold that responsibility? Number four, um young coach looking for somebody with um youth and and not necessarily age. Although age is definitely a factor, but you know, just a a youthful a youthful exuberance, you know, some somebody that can come in and just have a lot of energy and someone who can definitely relate to the players. And we’ve seen over the last few years that has been an issue with the Suns head coaches and how they relate related to the players. And number five, connecting with the stars. And again, connecting with the stars. That can be stars that are on the roster now or stars that’s going to be on the roster in the near future, but connecting with stars is going to be key, right? So, you know, I reported about a month ago or so that the Suns want to see who they hire first. They want to see who’s going to be the next hire before they decide what they’re going to do ultimately with Kevin Durant. And so, you know, having a coach to come in who may have a strong relationship with Kevin Durant or may hit it off with Kevin Durant or Bradley Bill, Devin Booker, that’s going to be key um to seeing what’s going to be next from a transactional standpoint for the organization this off seasonason. So, you know, those are those are kind of the the the building blocks and and that is the philosophy of the ownership and front office. That’s what they’re telling these um coaching candidates who have made it to the second round. These are the things they’re looking for to build the program. Making sure your philosophy aligns with the ownership in the front office. Having a defensive background or showcasing that you can uh implement a top-notch defense, holding guy holding guys accountable. um you know a youthful a youthful spirit and connecting with the stars and so this is going to be interesting and and one thing you know so Matt Ishpia the owner of the Suns Michigan State um played at Michigan State and there are two coaches on this um two coaching candidates on this list of eight who are Michigan State alums that would be Jordan Aut Cav’s assistant and Net’s assistant Steve Hell so you would you could assume that Mash at, excuse me, you can assume that Matt Ishbia knows those guys pretty well. He’s pretty pretty up to date on those guys. And another thing, out of these eight candidates, only two of these candidates have had head coaching experience, and that is David Fdale and James Burggo. So again, a very youthful list, but this is a list that is well respected. These guys have earned the right to be in this position. So ultimately, we’re going to see what’s going to happen from here. But this is what I can report. These eight names have advanced to the second round of the Phoenix Suns head coaching search. So that’s all I have for today. We’ll have plenty more as the playoffs wrap up as more things start to transpire. So please continue to tune in, share, subscribe, and comment. Put us on instant notifications. And um thank you for your time. This is Hangs Bree. Take care. Oh yeah.

On this episode of Haynes Briefs, NBA Insider Chris Haynes reports on the list of candidates that have made it to the Elite 8 of the Phoenix Suns coaching search. Haynes also provides details on what Suns are looking for in their next head coach.