NBA: Phoenix Suns Fire Coach Frank Vogel After First-Round Sweep

The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Frank Vogel, the franchise announced Thursday, ending his tenure after one disappointing season.

Vogel바카라�s Suns failed to live up to lofty expectations after investing almost all their future draft capital in acquiring veteran All-Stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

The Suns went 49-33 this season and needed a late 10-4 stretch to avoid the play-in tournament as the Western Conference바카라�s No. 6 seed. Phoenix was eliminated from the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a first-round sweep.

Former title-winning Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer is atop the Suns바카라� list of candidates, ESPN바카라�s Adrian Wojnarowski reported. Vogel바카라�s successor will face championship-level expectations without the ability to dramatically upgrade the roster.

바카라�We are here to win a championship and last season was way below our expectations,바카라� general manager James Jones said in a statement.

바카라�We will continue to evaluate our operation and make the necessary changes to reach our championship-calibre goals. We all take accountability, and it바카라�s my job, along with [CEO Josh Bartelstein] and ownership, to build a championship team.바카라�

The Suns implemented a win-now strategy when, at the behest of new owner Matt Ishbia, they acquired Durant last February.

Phoenix doubled down on the all-or-nothing route by acquiring Beal in the offseason, putting the team over the second apron of the luxury tax and hindering their ability to improve the roster around Durant, Beal and Devin Booker.

The inflexibility left the Suns without a traditional point guard this season and unable to make an impactful trade deadline acquisition.

Despite having three All-Star scorers, the Suns ranked 10th in the NBA by scoring 116.2 points per game, not enough to overcome their mediocre defence.

Durant, 35, was the most productive and available of the Suns바카라� big three, playing 75 games and averaging 27.1 points on his typical efficient shooting.

Booker also scored 27.1 points per game and set a career-high in assists at 6.9 per contest, but he was limited to 68 games.

Beal failed to live up to his contract 바카라� which still has three years and $161million remaining 바카라� by averaging 18.2 points over 53 games.

Beyond the individual numbers, the Suns바카라� stars failed to create a team greater than the sum of its parts. Despite having plenty of firepower, Phoenix ranked 23rd this season by shooting 40.6 percent in clutch situations (last five minutes and the game within six points).

Vogel has a career 480-422 record (.532) with four teams. He won a championship in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers, who are undergoing their own coaching search after firing Darvin Ham.