The Suns are facing elimination in a sweep.
The Phoenix Suns came into the 2023-24 season hoping to be championship contenders. They already had two stars in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, and then they added Bradley Beal to form a new Big 3 in the NBA. But the season hasn’t gone as they would have hoped. Although they managed to scramble into the playoffs as a six seed, they are on the verge of elimination facing a 0-3 deficit against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s led to questions about Suns head coach Frank Vogel’s job security, a question he answered confidently ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Playoffs as per Shane Young of Forbes Sports.
“I have full support from Mat Ishbia,” Frank Vogel said. Vogel mentioned that he’s very confident that he’ll be back next season despite whatever the Suns fate in the NBA Playoffs ends up being.
The final score in each of the first three games have not been close with the Wolves just ultimately overpowering the Suns as each game has progressed. The questions surrounding Vogel’s future with the team came as a report surfaced from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN suggesting that Vogel could be on the hot seat especially if the Suns get swept.
Frank Vogel is in his first season as Suns head coach
The Suns hired Frank Vogel as head coach in the offseason, Mat Ishbia’s first coaching hire as team owner. Vogel led the Suns to a 49-33 record, good enough for second place in the Pacific Division behind the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Suns had stumbled out of the gates though, hovering near play-in positioning for most of the season. They ended up playing just well enough to stay out of the play-in and make the postseason outright.
Vogel had sat out the 2022-23 season after he was let go by the Los Angeles Lakers following the 2021-22 season. Vogel has made a reputation as being one of the NBA’s better defensive coaches. He led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship.
Prior to his stint with the Lakers, Vogel was the head coach of the Orlando Magic from 2016-2018. He got his start as a head coach with the Indiana Pacers and that was when he first came into prominence as an NBA head coach.
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Vogel helped transform the Pacers into a perennial contender in the Eastern Conference and they had a couple of tough playoff battles against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
Suns questionable depth could be their undoing
Coming into the season, one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Suns was their depth, or lack thereof. They already had sacrificed quite a bit sending Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets in the Kevin Durant trade.
They also lost Landry Shamet, another quality depth piece, in the Bradley Beal trade. While the Suns have a solid starting five, they don’t have much consistency off the bench especially at backup center. But with the Suns having a high payroll centered around their Big 3, adding quality roster depth isn’t going to be easy.
