The Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns head coaches are in the hottest seats in the NBA. A league insider explained this week which team is more likely to fire their head coach first.
A lot of the focus right now around the NBA is the chase for the NBA Play-In spots and teams jockeying for final seeding in the playoffs. Heading into the season, most NBA experts assumed the Suns and Sixers were locks to still be playing in late April. Mainly because both clubs have multiple All-Stars on their rosters.
However, Phoenix and Philadelphia have been the two biggest disappointments in the league this season. The 76ers have been hindered by unsurprising injuries to Joel Embiid and Paul George and head into the final games of the season with the fifth-worst record in the league. The Suns and their massive $237 million payroll are just two games out of the final play-in spot. However, no one expects them to go far if they get into the tournament.
Their results in 2024-25 have created a great deal of speculation about the futures of their head coaches, Nick Nurse and Mike Budenholzer. In a new column, The Athletic NBA insider Zach Harper looked at which coaches around the game are in the most trouble of being fired this month. He thinks Nurse and Budenholzer have reasons to be very worried, but one much more than the other.
Also Read: NBA games today – Get a look at today’s NBA schedule
Phoenix Suns more likely than the Philadelphia 76ers to fire their head coach this month?
While Harper describes the Philadelphia 76ers season as an “abject failure,” he does not think Nurse will be the fall guy unless the front office believes the only way this team gets better is moving on from the coach who led the Toronto Raptors to a championship in 2019.
“Nurse was fine in his first season with Philly (47-35), but it’s hard to know what he can do when the best player keeps getting hurt. I’m not sure I expect Nurse to be fired unless ownership decides they need a change. And ownership is kind of focused on Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders for the time being.”
Zach Harper
However, Harper believes that of all the coaches in danger of being ousted after the season, Budenholzer is in the most trouble. And despite the Phoenix Suns firing their coach the last two years, he thinks there is a very good chance the man that led the Milwaukee Bucks to a title a few years ago could be one and done.
“Budenholzer was supposed to fix all of the offensive and defensive issues this team had. The roster never embraced his style. It has been an absolute mess, and it’s the most expensive failure we’ve ever seen. It’s not easy to change the roster, so why not just have owner Mat Ishbia eat the remaining four years and $40 million? That ought to fix it! Or maybe you move Kevin Durant and see if what you get in return can be molded by Bud into something salvageable next season?”
Zach Harper
The Suns have four games left in their season, so Budenholzer’s fate will likely be revealed very soon.
