Down 3-0 in the first round to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Phoenix Suns are going to enter an offseason full of questions, one of which being first-year coach Frank Vogel’s job security.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on NBA Countdown today that Vogel’s job could very likely be in danger in the offseason when asked if he could be pinned as the fall guy for the Suns’ shortcomings.
“(There’s) increasing belief around the league that Frank Vogel’s job is in peril if this team loses, especially as abruptly as they might in a sweep, as dispirited as they looked in Game 3,” Wojnarowski said.
The Suns have mortgaged almost all of their future to be built around a Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker, who are all healthy right now, yet the team is still underperforming. They are projected to have the highest tax bill in the NBA next season after signing Grayson Allen to a four-year, $70-million extension a couple weeks ago.
Phoenix has virtually no assets, having traded or swapped all of their first-round picks until 2030. They only own one second-round pick in this timeframe: a 2028 pick from the Boston Celtics (protected 31-45).
“When you have this kind of a payroll, these kinds of expectations, you’ve got to not only show more in the first round, you’ve got to get out of the first round,” Wojnarowski continued.
Another disastrous postseason unfolding for the Suns, now about to go down 3-0 to the Timberwolves, and some serious long-term questions will arise:
1. Frank Vogel’s job security is very much in question. Clippers head coach Ty Lue, who was the Suns’ preferred target last year,… pic.twitter.com/6uwef7aG1E
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) April 27, 2024
Vogel was hired on June 2 after the Suns fired Monty Williams on May 13, one day after their Game 6 loss in the second round to the Denver Nuggets.
“Losing in six to Denver in the second round cost Monty Williams his job,” Wojnarowski said. “You’ve seen Mat Ishbia the owner, he has made rapid change in his short tenure as owner. Frank Vogel’s job very much may be in jeopardy now.”
.@wojespn on Frank Vogel's future with the Phoenix Suns: pic.twitter.com/153lglBJmH
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 28, 2024
Wojnarowski was the one who broke the news that Vogel was fired from the Lakers two years ago, and the tweet he sent came minutes after the team’s season ended.
"Woj tweeted one minute after the game that Frank Vogel was fired. … The Lakers didn’t even have the decency to inform the coach that won them a championship 18 months ago, that they were going to let him go. … The Laker organization is in utter disarray.”
—@Rjeff24 😳 pic.twitter.com/KRAr779sTU
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 11, 2022
Phoenix finished Vogel’s first regular season with a 49-33 record, which was good for the No. 6 seed in the West. The Suns will already be losing Vogel’s lead assistant Kevin Young after the season after he was hired to be the next head coach at BYU.
Yesterday, Kevin Durant said in practice that Vogel is their leader.
“We all speak up and talk, but the leader is the coach,” Durant said.
Fans seem to have lost all confidence in Vogel after the way the Suns have underachieved this season. In Game 3’s 126-109 loss, a faint “Fire Vogel” chant was heard in the fourth quarter at Footprint Center.
The Suns play Game 4 tonight at 6:30 p.m. MST against the Timberwolves, as teams are 0-152 when being down 3-0 in a playoff series all-time.
“We don’t like where we’re at, but we do have an opportunity to do something that’s never been done,” Vogel said in practice yesterday. “That’s something that we’re gonna embrace. We don’t have to win four games, we have to win (Game 4), and that’s where our focus is.”
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
