The Suns are currently looking for their fourth head coach in as many seasons.
Phoenix announced Thursday that it has elevated incumbent front office executive Brian Gregory to its team general manager role, while shifting former GM James Jones into an advisory capacity. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix (Twitter link), Gregory will start contacting agents of potential head coaching candidates immediately, with 14 or 15 potential targets expected to be on that list.
Gambadoro confirms, as has been previously reported, that the Suns are considered likely to hire a first-time NBA head coach this time around, following three straight disappointing seasons with very experienced coaches. Gambadoro tweets that Phoenix is expected to make its decision within the next two or three weeks. The Suns plan to cull down their initial candidate list to two or three finalists over a few rounds of conversations.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- As Phoenix’s new top decision maker, Brian Gregory has an interesting summer ahead of him. PHNX Sports’ Gerald Bourguet offers up a fresh primer on Gregory’s history and how he and new assistant GM Oronde Taliaferro will impact the Suns’ future. Bourguet notes that, though Gregory has significant experience as a coach, his front office experience is significantly more limited.
- After considering making a change to his starting lineup for a must-win Game 6, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters that he will keep his preferred first five intact after all, per Mark Medina of Sportskeeda (via Twitter). L.A. currently trails Denver 3-2 in the series.
- In case you missed it, Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic recently reflected on their first time suiting up against one another in a playoff series this spring.