Suns fire head coach Mike Budenholzer after missing NBA playoffs in his 1st season

The Phoenix Suns have parted ways with veteran coach Mike Budenholzer following one dismal season that featured a fast start before a maddening slide out of post-season contention for a high-priced roster that included Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

The Suns made the unsurprising announcement on Monday, one day after the franchise finished with a 36-46 record which put them 11th in the NBA's Western Conference.

They lost nine of their last 10 games, failing to qualify for the play-in tournament.

"Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season," the team's short statement said. "Our fans deserve better. Change is needed."

The 55-year-old Budenholzer was hired in May, replacing Frank Vogel, who also had a one-year tenure that ended in disappointment. Coach Bud, an Arizona native, won an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, beating the Suns in six games in the Finals, and the hope was he could finally bring a championship to the desert.

He didn't even come close.

The season started with optimism after the Suns jumped to an 8-1 record, but Durant went down with a calf strain that knocked the team into a tailspin. Even after the 15-time all-star returned to the lineup a few weeks later, Phoenix was never able to recapture its early momentum.

Budenholzer couldn't seem to settle on a regular playing rotation with rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro playing big minutes one night before being benched the next. Veteran centre Jusuf Nurkic had an awful start to the season, and complained about a lack of communication with Budenholzer, before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets.

Booker and Durant stayed relatively healthy for most of the season, but Beal had