TUESDAY, 10:15am: The Suns have officially hired Hornacek as their new head coach, the team announced today in a press release.
"We are thrilled to introduce Jeff Hornacek as the new head coach of the Phoenix Suns," GM Ryan McDonough said in a statement. "Jeff has all of the qualities we were looking for in a head coach—he is a leader, a teacher and a student of the game. Jeff's name has been high on our list ever since my first interview with the Suns. His successes as a player and as an assistant coach, along with his deep ties to this franchise and this community, give us confidence that he will do great things as the next head coach of the Phoenix Suns."
SUNDAY, 4:56pm: Hornacek's deal will give him three years guaranteed with a club option for year four, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
3:53pm: Jeff Hornacek has agreed to become the next coach of the Suns, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Phoenix made Hornacek an offer over the weekend and the two sides spent today hammering out an agreement. The 50-year-old will now become the 16th coach in club history.
While Hornacek is widely known for his time spent with the Jazz, the former guard played for the Suns in his first six NBA seasons. Hornacek met with Suns owner Robert Sarver, president Lon Babby, and new GM Ryan McDonough this week and apparently made a strong impression. Phoenix chose Hornacek over Rockets assistant J.B. Bickerstaff who also got to meet with the Suns decision makers.
The Suns had plans to also interview fellow Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson, Lakers assistant Steve Clifford, and appeared to have interest in Quin Snyder. However, all three will now have to look elsewhere.
The hiring means that the club will part ways with interim coach Lindsey Hunter, who is said to be in the mix for the Pistons job. Hunter will vie with Nate McMillan, Mike Budenholzer, J.B. Bickerstaff, and Darrell Walker for the gig.