Mercury: Mark Gretter, Vice President, Business Development: Matthew Salata, Director, Business Development & Sales Associate Program: Josh Strumlauf, Director, Premium Sales & Service: Nick Matranga, Sr. Williams was the. In 2014, while Rajakovic was serving as Tulsas head coach, Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks included him as one of his assistant coaches at the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. He worked with Monty Williams during the 2018-19 campaign in Philadelphia. PHOENIX The Phoenix Suns today announced Head Coach Monty Williams coaching staff, naming Willie Green, Darko Rajakovic, Mark Bryant, Randy Ayers, Larry Greer and Steve Blake as assistant coaches, and Riccardo Fois and Ben Strong as player development coaches. Apr 22 @ BOS, PHO (42-17) lost to BOS, 86-99, 60. Before returning to the NBA with Oklahoma City in 2015, Greer spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Arizona State University from 2012-2015. Phoenix Suns' Monty Williams receives NBCA Coach of the Year honors The native of Silver Spring, Maryland worked as an equity capital markets analyst from 2016-2017 before his time at George Mason. Select the second team from the drop down menu. Mar 18, PHO (26-13) lost to MIN, 119-123, 40. Prior to joining the Thunders coaching staff, Bryant served as assistant coach/player development with the Orlando Magic from 2005-2007 and his first coaching job was as a member of the Dallas Mavericks player development staff in 2004-05. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. Gates served as an assistant coach on Williams staff for each of their five seasons in New Orleans. aseidlitz. Before Murray suffered a knee injury that sidelined him the entire 2021-22 season, he used to have his way with the Suns. [44] The Phoenix Suns later revealed those four games of theirs were officially their preseason schedule on August 25.[45]. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Founded 1968 City Phoenix Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Grande, Project Manager, Information Technology: Aaron Prestwood, Systems/IT Network Administrator: Anthony Teixeira, Systems Administrators: Joseph Salas, Travis Washington, Sr. Business Systems Analyst: Erin Heming, Desktop Support Specialists: Patton Werner, Kevin Pires, Jakob Rubin, Sr. Marketing Manager, Ticket Sales: Ava Taylor, Manager, Influencer Strategy & Merchandise Marketing: Gerry Mildenberger, Sr. Ruffin is a nine-year NBA veteran. For his career, Blake averaged 6.5 points and 4.0 assists while shooting 38.3% from three-point range in 870 regular season games (347 starts) with Washington, Portland (three tenures), Milwaukee, Denver, the LA Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State and Detroit from 2003-2016. How Vanessa Nygaard grew from tumultuous first year as Phoenix Mercury - Sat., 6 p.m. Sun. The Suns won the game 130-103 to take the series 4-2. He served as an assistant coach for the Timberwolves in 2018-19 after working as the clubs advance scout in 2017-18. Mar 24 @ ORL, PHO (29-14) lost to ORL, 111-112, 44. Cam Johnson noticed the new assistant coaches blending in days before Phoenix Suns began training camp Tuesday. [6] The Suns then faced the Dallas Mavericks, where they lost in seven games, becoming the third team to have 64 or more wins and not reach the Conference Finals after the 200607 Dallas Mavericks and 201516 San Antonio Spurs. All content 2000-2023 RealGM, L.L.C. Tyronn Lue needs to unlock the best version of himself if he returns as After struggling against the Kings to start the preseason, Phoenix won both of their matches against the Lakers (even blowing the Lakers out 12394 in their second match) before blowing out the Trail Blazers in a 11974 win at home, finishing the preseason with a 31 record. Record: List of Phoenix Suns head coaches - Wikipedia 104,027 (4th of 30), NBA 2021 Playoffs: However, with Chris Paul, his new contract allows him to receive a partially guaranteed four-year deal that would fully grant him up to $120 million, though only his first two years are fully guaranteed, with his third year being partially guaranteed (half of his salary is fully guaranteed for that season) and his final season in that deal being non-guaranteed. After all, these are two of the teams standing in the way of Phoenix reaching their ultimate goal. Ayers has spent 17 total seasons on an NBA bench and was head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers for the majority of the 2003-04 season. Blake, 39,comes to Phoenix after spending the last two seasons working for the Portland Trail Blazers. In addition to his time at ASU, Greers coaching background includes serving as a college assistant coach at Wright State University (2003-2005), Boston University (1994-2003) and Brandeis University (1989-1992), in addition to working as recruiting coordinator at Boston College from 1992-1994. He averaged career highs of 11.1 points and 7.3 rebounds with Westchester in 2014-15, then was a member of the New York Knicks team at NBA Summer League 2015. In addition to playing under Williams as an assistant coach with Portland for the 2007-08 season, Blake was a teammate of Suns General Manager James Jones. Jan 30 @ DAL, PHO (10-8) beat DAL, 111-105, 19. Frazier entered the coaching world as a graduate manager for the mens basketball program at George Mason University in 2017-18. "These [N-words] need a [N-word]," Sarver told the staffer of his . Strong, 32, joins the Suns after spending the 2018-19 season in player development for the Philadelphia 76ers where he worked alongside Williams to help the Sixers reach the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The result: The Suns went from 19-63 the season before hiring Williams to 34-39 last season to 51-21 this season. His first coaching position in pro basketball was as head coach of the Shamrock Rovers in the Irish Super League for the 2006-07 season, which followed time as an assistant coach at Utah Valley University and Oxford College. Blake played in all 138 games during his college career and remains Marylands all-time leader in games started (136) and assists (972) with 200 more assists than second place. Jack will join the Suns after a 13-year NBA career as a player from 2005-2018. Green, 37,joins the Suns following three seasons as assistant coach/player development for the Golden State Warriors. Signed 4-year partially guaranteed deal worth $120 Million, Signed 3-year partially guaranteed deal worth $19 Million, Signed 2-year partially guaranteed deal worth $4,200,000, Signed 4-year contract extension worth $90 Million, Signed 4-year contract extension worth $43 Million, On September 11, 2021, former Suns head coach, On November 2, 2021, former Suns player and coach. Manager, Premium Sales & Service: Kgai Jones, Sr. Account Executives, Premium Experience: Bobby Phelps, Michael Pettit, Ari Richman, Account Executives, Premium Sales: Brandon Ferris, Alex Wagner, Account Executives, Premium Experience: JT Holloway, Skyler Roope, Wesley Rouse, Sydney Slevin, Cory Tollefson, Manager, Business Development: Philip Fisher, Sr. Account Executive, Business Development: Connor Sprague, Account Executive, Business Development: Brad Estok, Taia Gomez, Rob Kennedy, Jah Strange, Andrew Valdez, Sr. Fois, 32, comes to the Suns after spending the past five seasons working for Gonzaga Universitys mens basketball program, elevating to the title of director of analytics. [24] On August 7, the Suns officially announced not just the promotion of Kevin Young to Willie Green's former position of associate head coach and the confirmed hiring of Bryan Gates, but also hired former NBA and NBA G League Ignite player Jarrett Jack and Oklahoma City Thunder player development coach Steve Scalzi to initially round out the rest of the coaching staff. Prior to his time at Gonzaga, Fois served as a graduate assistant for the mens basketball program at Pepperdine University from 2012-2014. He was a member of Larry Browns staff with the 76ers from 1997-2003, where he coached both Williams and Bryant, then was Greens first NBA head coach with Philadelphia in 2003-04. The Phoenix Suns have announced the club's sports medicine and performance team, naming Brady Howe as Senior Director of Player Health and Performance, adding David Crewe as Director of Medical. Fois was an assistant coach for Italys national team at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, serving on the staff of Ettore Messina, one of the best European basketball coaches of all time and currently an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. 2020-21 Phoenix Suns Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com John MacLeodis the franchise's all-time leader in coaching years and games won, winning the most regular-season and playoff games. Rajakovic received a basketball coaching degree from the Belgrade Basketball Academy in 2004 and a degree in sports management from Alfa BK University in Belgrade in 2006. [38], For this season, the salary cap was set at $112,414,000, with the luxury tax line now being set at $136,606,000. Phoenix Suns announce four coaching changes for 2021-22 season Players like Hutchison and Wainright are also eligible to play for the 202122 NBA G League season for the affiliate team they've signed up for. Scalzi joins the Suns following seven seasons on the coaching staff of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is of Native American descent as his father is a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. Won NBA Western Conference First Round (4-2) versus Los Angeles Lakers Opp PTS/G: Feb 22, PHO (20-10) beat POR, 132-100, 31. Prior to being selected with the 41st overall pick by Seattle in 2003, Green was a four-year standout at the University of Detroit Mercy. However, he last played for the Washington Wizards as a part of the squad that made it to the 2021 NBA playoffs after once being considered the worst Eastern Conference team earlier in the season. However, his third season in that deal is only partially guaranteed for him, while his fourth and final season includes a team option that is not guaranteed for Paul.^b:For Cameron Payne's third year, he is only guaranteed $2,000,000 out of the $6,500,000 he could receive that season.^c:Abdel Nader's second year has a team option on whether he'll be back by then on that same deal (which will have a value of $2,200,000 in that season) or not. Staff Directory | NBA.com Green remains fourth in program history in career points scored. [3] On March 24, with a win over the Denver Nuggets, the Phoenix Suns clinched the #1 spot in the Western Conference and the league for the first time since 2005. Right hamstring strain during the road Lakers game. The 6-4 shooting guard played his first seven seasons in Philadelphia, including in 2007-08 when he averaged a career-high 12.4 points for the 76ers. Before his professional career, he was the 2007 NABC Division III Co-Player of the Year at Guilford College. Report: Houston Rockets looking to interview Phoenix Suns associate coaching staff, and the entire Suns organization under the . Feb 1 @ DAL, PHO (11-8) beat DAL, 109-108, 20. Dec 27 @ SAC, PHO (2-1) beat SAC, 116-100, 5. Bryant is a native of Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Example video title will go here for this video. Allegations of racism and misogyny within the Phoenix Suns - ESPN Before his coaching career, Ayers played at Miami and led the team to an upset of defending champion Marquette in the first round of the 1978 NCAA tournament. The Suns have also added Ryan Frazier as head video coordinator. A graduate of Boston College, he was a student assistant for the mens basketball team during the winningest period in the Eagles school history from 2002-2006. Attendance: The Bulldogs advanced at least as far as the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in all five of Fois seasons, and he helped the program reach its first-ever Final Four in 2017, played in Arizona, when Gonzaga finished as national runner-up. Its a tremendous collection of bright basketball minds who are also outstanding people, and we are already hard at work.. In 11 total NBA seasons, he has worked for seven teams that have qualified for the postseason. However, a report from Jordan Schultz on October 22, 2021, suggested that ESPN was going to release a major expos piece on majority team owner Robert Sarver with regards to rampant racism, sexism, and misogyny involved with him on the team both on and off the court throughout his entire tenure as team owner. Phoenix Suns' Landry Shamet feels blessed to join title contender He joined the Suns following four seasons as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers, helping the Sixers qualify for the playoffs in each of his final three seasons with the team.