After a comprehensive search that included more than a dozen candidates, the Phoenix Suns have hired their next head coach in Jordan Ott.
As first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania Wednesday morning, the Suns opted to make Ott their first-year head coach, choosing the Cleveland Cavaliers assistant over their other finalist, fellow Cavs assistant Johnnie Bryant. According to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro, Ott has agreed to a four-year deal.
Ott and Bryant spent the past season under Kenny Atkinson coaching a 64-win Cavs team that was the surprise of the league and the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference. Injuries and a red-hot Indiana Pacers squad ended their season prematurely in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Cleveland’s coaching staff was highly regarded as Atkinson won Coach of the Year honors.
Jordan Ott began his NBA coaching career in 2013 as a video coordinator for the Atlanta Hawks under the Suns’ last coach, the recently-fired Mike Budenholzer. Ott spent three years under coach Bud before joining Atkinson’s coaching staff as an assistant for the Brooklyn Nets. After the Nets fired Atkinson, Ott remained in Brooklyn, coaching under Jacque Vaughn and Steve Nash until 2022. At that point, he joined Darvin Ham’s coaching staff for two years on the Los Angeles Lakers before rejoining Atkinson in Cleveland last season.
What to make of Suns hiring Jordan Ott
As a Michigan State alum, there will undoubtedly be extra pressure on this first-year head coach to prove that the Suns’ exhaustive interview process was more than just an inevitability. Similar cries of Sparty favoritism rang out after owner Mat Ishbia hired Brian Gregory — a former Michigan State assistant coach with limited NBA front office experience — as the Suns’ new general manager.
They will only grow louder now that Phoenix has hired Ott, who graduated from Michigan State and served as a video coordinator under Tom Izzo from 2008-13.
Much like Gregory, the proof will be in the pudding. If Ott and Gregory succeed, no one will care about their Michigan State connection to Ishbia. If they fail, it’s all anyone will talk about as an indictment on Ishbia’s decision-making as owner.
However, it’s not as though Jordan Ott is unqualified. He has more than a decade of coaching experience in the league, and he was a finalist for the Charlotte Hornets’ head coaching job that went to Charles Lee last year, so it’s not as though he showed up, flashed his Michigan State degree and got hired undeservingly.
Candidates like Johnnie Bryant and Chris Quinn may have been more attractive to segments of the fanbase, and Phoenix’s front office was impressed with Bryant as well. But a Suns source who spoke with PHNX Sports called Ott the “obvious choice,” describing him as “the hardest-working guy,” and “the most basketball tactician of anybody.”
Not for nothing, Devin Booker also approved the hire. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Booker was involved in the final stages of the Suns’ interview process and “stamped Ott as his top choice,” while another source confirmed to PHNX Sports that “Booker loved him.”
Having the support and involvement of the face of the franchise matters, especially as the Suns have publicly and privately iterated (and reiterated) that they’re building around Booker and have no intention to trade him. They also owe it to their 28-year-old star to get this hire right, given Booker’s extensive history with bad coaching hires in Phoenix.
Ott’s background in player development matters as well, especially if the Suns wind up taking a step backward with a Kevin Durant trade in order to eventually take a step forward again.
During their interview process with Jordan Ott, Phoenix realized there were a few things they hadn’t been doing on the basketball front, which showcased Ott’s “cutting-edge” mind on the offensive end. His communication, defensive creativity and work ethic have also been highlighted, including his commitment to studying league-wide trends and pathways to implementing them.
Despite their shared background as Michigan State alums, this week’s interview was the first time Mat Ishbia met Jordan Ott, but a source confirmed he impressed Ishbia, Gregory and CEO Josh Bartelstein with his attention to details and his willingness to outwork everybody.
According to another source, Ishbia emailed the Suns basketball operations team internally on Wednesday, taking accountability for not doing enough to establish a culture and identity in Phoenix. The Suns owner stated that he tried “running the typical NBA owner playbook” of “hiring experts, signing checks and getting out of the way,” but no one was happy with the outcome.
Now, despite insisting that he is not reviewing film, designing offenses or running the draft room, Ishbia intends to be “extremely active in the decisions and management.” He acknowledged his more unconventional approach as an owner is to ensure the Suns get back to the requisite level of winning that’s been absent the last few years.
In his letter, Ishbia also praised Gregory for his interview process, saying, “His work on this coaching search was fantastic and gave us exactly what we need right now – a young, hungry, dynamic leader ready to be an NBA coach.” He went on to hail the hiring of Jordan Ott as “an exciting milestone” and highlighted the new leadership and accountability that Gregory and Ott will bring to the table, as well as Ott’s ability to foster team chemistry, develop players and understand the game at the highest level.
Ishbia noted in his address that “winning the press conference” or reacting to “hot takes” or “external narratives” is no longer his concern. He understands some of his decisions will be unpopular, but iterated that he won’t make decisions to generate favorable headlines.
“All that matters is winning together as a team,” he wrote.
Ott may not blow anyone away with charisma or by winning the press conference, but the Suns see him as an executor who will get the job done in the areas were Phoenix has been lacking the last few years, allowing them to build “something truly special and lasting” in the Valley.
After watching Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer “win the press conference” as more experienced head coaches with championship experience, Phoenix is opting for a change of pace with a younger, hungrier basketball mind. Hopefully Jordan Ott can end their three-year streak of hiring a new coach every summer and silence the Michigan concerns in the process.
