How Suns' Mike Budenholzer Could Win Coach of the Year

The Phoenix Suns' first-year head coach could work his way into the coach of the year conversation.

Nov 8, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer reacts during the first quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The 2024-25 Phoenix Suns are coming off of their most humbling loss of the young campaign last night in 127-104 fashion to the Sacramento Kings to move to 9-3 on the year.

Despite the loss, the Suns are already looking to be on pace to far outshoot the 49-win mark that was secured in the 2023-24 campaign - and one of the most conspicuous changes that were made that has led to this early-season surge is none other than the hiring of former NBA champion head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Budenholzer's early success hasn't come without notice - as some have mentioned the two-time coach of the year recipient as an early candidate for a possible third award.

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report happens to be one of those that believes Budenholzer deserves a mention in the 2025 coach of the year race early on in the season - and the rationale behind that is below.

"Predictably, Budenholzer has the Suns playing steady and successful on both ends. One of the more reliable regular-season coaches of the last decade deserves credit for turning one of last year's worst clutch teams into one of the best. Even if you don't buy a coach's influence over close-and-late success, everyone is raving about the top-down excellence of the Coach Bud administration.

""The attention to detail is off the charts;" Suns president and CEO Josh Bartelstein told Arizona Sports' Bickley & Marotta.

"Phoenix won eight of its first nine games, but Budenholzer will be tested anew with Kevin Durant set to miss a couple of weeks with a calf strain."

- Hughes on Budenholzer

While it could take a significant surge moving forward to unseat top-level candidates such as Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers or Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics - there still is a chance that the Arizona native can factor into that discussion.

Three reasons why his impact has been so expansive - and why that could result in significant traction for the award moving forward.

Change in Offensive Philosophy

The Suns' offensive rating has actually taken a hit early on this season - the 23/24 version posted a 117.6 offensive rating - while the 24/25 squad is currently boasting a 115.2, per Statmuse.

Some much needed context is in order here to make up for the discrepancy.

For starters, defense across the NBA has improved compared to last season - where there were far more historically poor defenses that countered some truly great defenses.

The Suns have faced some of the best defenses in the league in the early stages of this 82-game season - particularly the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers, and Dallas Mavericks - and have fared extremely well against all of those opponents big-picture speaking.

Those squads present unique challenges schematically and from a physicality standpoint - but Phoenix has managed those challenges in an infinitely better fashion compared to what the squad of last year had done.

Secondly, this team simply plays differently and has a clear identity - a complete 180 degree turn from last season when it felt like the freelance sets ran rampant and players were grossly misused within the context of how things should have looked.

One of the fatal flaws of the squad of last season was the lack of three-point volume. The Suns only attempted a touch over 32 per game in the regular season and were even more haunted by a lack of aggression in the first-round series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Well, the tide has turned to this point in just a few short months.

The Suns now rank 4th in the league at 41.2 attempts per night - and are 8th in efficiency at 37.4% - per ESPN.

This is a massively encouraging sign and early proof that Budenholzer has had an instant impact on the philosophy of the offensive attack. It must also be considered that Devin Booker has been off to an up-and-down start thus far, while it has taken some time to ramp Grayson Allen up as well.

With that in mind, it feels like the idea that the Suns' offensive unit finishing the season among the top 5 offenses in the league isn't an unrealistic goal at all - and the thought that this unit hasn't fully clicked yet could be terrifying to the rest of the NBA world.

Strong Command of Rotations

One of the fatal flaws of the 23/24 Suns was the swing-and-misses of multiple free agents that had high ceilings/low floors.

The rotations were never truly solidified despite the lack of point guard, free agent misses, and other eccentuating factors.

Thaddeus Young never truly factored into the rotation. Bol Bol was an inconsistent fixture despite flashing moments of brilliance across 42 appearances. The staggered minutes between Kevin Durant and Devin Booker could become perplexing on a nightly basis.

This season, coach Budenholzer has firm command over the rotations and there is a clear method to his madness.

Say what you will about minutia such as generally continuing to play Mason Plumlee over Oso Ighodaro or Bol Bol regardless of matchup. Budenholzer has clear convictions when it comes to what does and doesn't work with this squad - and it has generally worked out thus far.

He isn't afraid to go with small-ball lineups. He has experimented with Ryan Dunn, Grayson Allen, and Royce O'Neale in the same lineup. He has even run out lineups that featured "Point Book" in spurs - which have resulted in more fruitful outcomes compared to last season - which is a common theme here.

The command over rotations is a huge reason why we have seen this degree of success so far - and that leads right into the final argument.

Clutch Time Management

The Suns are sitting at 9-3 this season despite only having a +0.5 net rating in a small sample.

The reasoning behind this? The in-game management in crunch time compared to last year.

Suns are the only team in the NBA with at least 5 wins in clutch time and they've now got 6 at 6-0.

Last year they were 20-21.

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) November 7, 2024

Some of the improvement can be attributed to the addition of Tyus Jones, the increased continuity of the stars on the roster, and the newfound structure of the offense.

All three of those could be tied to Budenholzer.

Coach Budenholzer puts Booker, Durant, and Beal into optimal situations to succeed and build on their unique strengths instead of inviting a free-for-all akin to last year. Jones has been an ideal add to serve as a vessel to carry that out.

The improved structure of the offense has made this offense a well-oiled machine - not different from the 2021-22 squad that rode a historically strong clutch-time offense to a franchise record 64 victories.

Budenholzer has already carved out a strong case to be considered for a third coach of the year award - it will be seen over the coming months if he can jump to the forefront of the list, but it already is clear that he was the right hire for a franchise still seeking out a first-ever NBA title.