Suns coaching search update: 2nd round of interviews wrapped up

The Phoenix Suns have wrapped up their second round of head coaching interviews, most of which occurred over Zoom, Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported on Sunday.

Phoenix previously narrowed its search down to a reported nine candidates: Chris Quinn, Sean Sweeney, David Fizdale, James Borrego, Johnnie Bryant, Jordan Ott, Steve Hetzel, Micah Nori and Dave Bliss.

Quinn and Sweeney have made strong impressions in their interviews, NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Monday.

Nori (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Bliss (Oklahoma City Thunder) are the only candidates still coaching, as they are assistants competing in the Western Conference Finals.

Ott was circled by Stein as a candidate to watch given a Michigan State connection to owner Mat Ishbia and new general manager Brian Gregory.

Finalists are expected to be alerted in the next day or two with in-person meetings to be scheduled.

The Suns remain the lone NBA team without a head coach as the playoffs continue deeper into the conference finals. The NBA Draft is a month away on June 25, while teams can begin negotiating with free agents on June 30.

Ishbia’s Suns are going through an offseason of change. They fired previous head coach Mike Budenholzer and replaced James Jones with Gregory as the team’s general manager. Gregory previously worked as a Suns consultant and their vice president of player programming.

Phoenix finished this past season 36-46, the 11th seed in the Western Conference and just outside the play-in tournament despite lofty preseason expectations.

They will enter next season with their fourth head coach in as many years.

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