[BREAKING] As expected, the Suns have parted ways with head coach Mike Budenholzer

Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer reacts during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.
The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after just one season, the team announced on Monday.

“Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season,” the team released in a statement. “Our fans deserve better. Change is needed.”

Budenholzer, 55, was hired by the Suns in 2024 on a five-year deal worth roughly $50 million, making him one of the highest-paid head coaches in the NBA. After taking the 2023-24 season to himself upon being let go by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023, Budenholzer decided to jump at the opportunity to coach Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal.

In one season with the Suns, the veteran head coach went 36-46, failing to make the playoffs and finishing 11th in the Western Conference.

Phoenix was the third different organization that Budenholzer had coached. He had previously spent five seasons with both the Atlanta Hawks and Bucks, winning a championship with Milwaukee in 2021.

Just one season after winning 49 games, claiming the 6-seed in the West, and finishing with a top-15 defense, the Suns plummeted to the third-worst defense in the NBA, failing to meet owner Mat Ishbia’s lofty championship expectations.

Ishbia, who took control of the Suns in 2023, will now search for his organization’s fourth head coach after firing Monty Williams in 2023 and Frank Vogel in 2024 after one season with the franchise.