Kevin Young to reportedly stay with Suns as NBA’s top-paid assistant

The Suns have reportedly agreed with assistant coach Kevin Young to remain in Phoenix on a deal that will make him the league’s highest-paid assistant, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The deal is reportedly worth $2 million per year.

Young was a finalist for the head coaching job alongside Doc Rivers before Frank Vogel was given the title.

Young worked under former head coach Monty Williams for three years before Williams was fired in mid-May. After lead assistant Willie Green took the top gig with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2021, Young was elevated from a standard assistant position to associate head coach.

During the omicron breakout of the COVID-19 variant in the middle of the 2021-22 season, Williams entered health and safety protocols, putting Young in charge for four games. Phoenix, with a limited roster due to other ill players, went 2-2 over that stretch.

Young got his start in the NBA as an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers, where he spent four years. One of those was with Williams, who was also an assistant under Brett Brown for one season and then poached Young away from Philadelphia in his second season coaching the Suns.

While Young is only 41 years old, he has plenty of coaching experience.

He started as a head coach in Ireland before a season apiece as an assistant at Utah Valley State and Oxford College.

A turning point came in 2009 when Young became an assistant for the Utah Flash, the Jazz’s D League affiliate. Young became the head coach after just a year, and one season later, he moved on to lead the Iowa Energy, an affiliate for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 2013-14 season rolled around, and that’s when Young began in the 76ers organization by getting on the staff for their D League affiliate in Delaware. A year later, he was their head coach for three seasons before joining Brown’s bench.

Follow @AZSports