When Does Hornacek Get His Contract Extended?

Puff · Post #1 » by **Puff** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:17 am

Steve Clifford just got a contract extension in Charlotte and I expect Buddenholzer has or will get his contract extended soon..

I believe both got coaching jobs the same year Hornacek took over the Suns, his contract is up at the end of the year.

I do not think there is a big difference between the talent levels at all 3 franchises. I expect that Charlotte might have the least amount of talent but I am not sure.

If this season gets really ugly and it certainly might. Would you keep a lame duck coach on the bench? Remember it will save you some operating costs if you keep him in place and this is a business. You also have him on a very reasonable contract similar to the great bargain contracts that you negotiated with the Twins.

However since he does not like to play his youngsters, like that horrible coach MDA, I expect he might be on the hot seat.

Maybe if we turn over the entire roster again this summer he can find some players that he can coach.

Just a thought

Remember that he is a good guy and a former Suns player prior to making any quick or emotional decisions, but this is a business.

alphagorilla · Post #2 » by **alphagorilla** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:36 am

Hand Luke Walton blank check and tell him to write his own figure.

thamadkant · Post #3 » by **thamadkant** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 10:55 am

Since Warriors built a championship team by getting Kerr and his system... Former Suns GM of the SSOL era.... Suns should do the same and raid their coaching staff.

Walton, Nash... Bring them to Phoenix.

Hornacek seems like a good guy and a smart coach but on the wrong team of players.

Saberestar · Post #4 » by **Saberestar** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 12:56 pm

WE WANT STEVE, WE WANT STEVE, WE WANT STEVE!!!

Post #5 » by **batsmasher** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 1:15 pm

If we're looking like a playoff team I'd guess he gets extended by April. Give us some momentum for the end of the season.

Post #6 » by **TASTIC** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 2:34 pm

It won't surprise me in the slightest if we somehow end up with Thibs as coach.

He and McD have roots back to Boston and he'd have some handy pieces to start out with...

I was listening to the SI.com podcast the other day with Hornacek and he just seems too nice to be a coach! Also has a strong accounting background and he's extremely smart - I wouldn't mind him in the front office to be honest.

DRK · Post #7 » by **DRK** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 3:25 pm

I would offer Mike D'Antoni a contract and see what he can do with our roster. (Yes Im not joking.)

We have a awesome center rotation of Chandler and Len, which is something we lacked back in the SSOL days.

Would love to see what Mike can do with a legit center combo, and BladeKnight.

kennydorglas · Post #8 » by **kennydorglas** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 3:35 pm

Hopefully, never.

Saberestar · Post #9 » by **Saberestar** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 5:04 pm

DRK wrote:I would offer Mike D'Antoni a contract and see what he can do with our roster. (Yes Im not joking.)

We have a awesome center rotation of Chandler and Len, which is something we lacked back in the SSOL days.

Would love to see what Mike can do with a legit center combo, and BladeKnight.

D'Antoni wouldn't play Chandler or Len big minutes...he would play small ball with Leuer or Kieff like centers a ton of minutes.

RaisingArizona · Post #10 » by **RaisingArizona** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:29 pm

Make or break year.

8on · Post #11 » by **8on** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:44 pm

no way it's Thibs. one of the main reasons McD wanted Hornacek is because he's nice. Luke Walton and Steve Kerr both seem nice. it's a commodity. you really want to have a DeMarcus Cousins situation with Markieff Morris? Hornacek is one aspect of the team you don't fix. Sarver knows we're getting there. he's paying Tyson $13M a year so we can have a chance to win; why wouldn't he cough up an extra $2M a year for Hornacek? to him, that's nothing.

Post #12 » by **bwgood77** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:16 pm

TASTIC wrote:It won't surprise me in the slightest if we somehow end up with Thibs as coach.

He and McD have roots back to Boston and he'd have some handy pieces to start out with...

I was listening to the SI.com podcast the other day with Hornacek and he just seems too nice to be a coach! Also has a strong accounting background and he's extremely smart - I wouldn't mind him in the front office to be honest.

I wouldn't say he has a strong accounting background. That was his major in college and that's all. It's not like he ever worked in accounting.

Post #13 » by **bwgood77** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:31 pm

As for the original question, I don't know. The team is performing slightly better than Vegas projections. But it really probably depends on Sarver's expectations. Every year he's had a completely different team to work with. He's performed slightly better than Clifford with equal talent, but that is pretty irrelevant. It really all depends on Sarver.

Obviously him being a good guy and an ex Suns player is irrelevant.

I imagine if it was completely up to McDonough, he would keep him, because they are going through a complete rebuild of the team. But then again, I think most of the issues from last year and the start to this year lie at the blame of McD, which make the team tougher to coach, whether it be signing too many guards who want to start, or the way he handled Kieff (twins are mostly to blame here but Kieff being not into playing hard for 10 games doesn't make it easy for Hornacek...I mean benching him is an option but you are not likely a playoff team with Leuer or Telly as your starting PF either). But McD COULD use Horny as a scapegoat if he feels he is on the hot seat. Though I don't think a new coach would do much or any better in his first year.

But we all know Sarver just gets rid of people, even if they have done well (D'Antoni, Kerr) so it could happen again.

But I kind of think even if the team finished right at the vegas #, he will be let go.

I really hope it wouldn't be Thibs though. And as interesting it might be for Nash or Walton to come in, I seriously doubt either are ready to coach full time. Walton maybe, but that team already knew how to win a championship and dominate the league last year. I personally don't think Walton is ready to take on mostly all guys that haven't really had any starting playoff experience outside of Chandler.

TeamTragic · Post #14 » by **TeamTragic** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:48 pm

batsmasher wrote:If we're looking like a playoff team I'd guess he gets extended by April. Give us some momentum for the end of the season.

Hornacek leading a play-off team :lol:

TASTIC wrote:It won't surprise me in the slightest if we somehow end up with Thibs as coach.

He and McD have roots back to Boston and he'd have some handy pieces to start out with...

I was listening to the SI.com podcast the other day with Hornacek and he just seems too nice to be a coach! Also has a strong accounting background and he's extremely smart - I wouldn't mind him in the front office to be honest.

That would be **** amazing if it happened. Sign me up.

DRK wrote:I would offer Mike D'Antoni a contract and see what he can do with our roster. (Yes Im not joking.)

We have a awesome center rotation of Chandler and Len, which is something we lacked back in the SSOL days.

Would love to see what Mike can do with a legit center combo, and BladeKnight.

I'm really glad that you aren't making coaching decisions :lol:

Puff · Post #15 » by **Puff** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 6:03 pm

DRK wrote:I would offer Mike D'Antoni a contract and see what he can do with our roster. (Yes Im not joking.)

We have a awesome center rotation of Chandler and Len, which is something we lacked back in the SSOL days.

Would love to see what Mike can do with a legit center combo, and BladeKnight.

I'm really glad that you aren't making coaching decisions :lol:[/quote]

Yeah I guess you are right. Why would Suns Fans want a coach that took us to the WCF twice, this is while we were the talk of the league and town.

I expect there are some Laker fans that wish MDA was coaching their young roster rather than the great Byron Scott.

TeamTragic · Post #16 » by **TeamTragic** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:29 am

DELETE

TeamTragic · Post #17 » by **TeamTragic** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:31 am

Puff wrote:Yeah I guess you are right. Why would Suns Fans want a coach that took us to the WCF twice, this is while we were the talk of the league and town.

I expect there are some Laker fans that wish MDA was coaching their young roster rather than the great Byron Scott.

I guess they can choose between a has-been and the worst coach in the league :lol:

thamadkant · Post #18 » by **thamadkant** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:33 am

I would only consider D'Antoni as an assistant coach.... he still doesnt preach defense and play young players...

RaisingArizona · Post #19 » by **RaisingArizona** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:53 am

He doesn't.

GMATCallahan · Post #20 » by **GMATCallahan** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 7:01 am

The issue is not the coach. The issue is that the Suns still have not recovered from the three-year black hole that existed between the Steve Kerr and the Ryan McDonough regimes—and may not recover for years to come.

I was reflecting the other day that if the Suns had traded Steve Nash at the time of the 2011 draft, when those rumors were floating, they could have scored two high draft picks—in both 2011 and 2012 (with the latter year's high pick coming by virtue of a poor record). Instead, Phoenix ended up with Markieff Morris and Kendall Marshall while missing the playoffs both years.

Here is something else to consider: in 2011, the Suns drafted Markieff Morris with the thirteenth pick, while Indiana selected Kawhi Leonard with the fifteenth pick as part of a prearranged deal with San Antonio. Imagine if the Suns had drafted Leonard and dealt Nash by the start of the post-lockout 2012 season, perhaps to New York for Iman Shumpert, salary cap filler, and the Knicks' first-round pick in 2015. Then, with an awful rebuilding roster in 2012 (that should not have included Grant Hill), the Suns may have posted one of the league's two or three worst records and possessed a great shot at winning the Anthony Davis sweepstakes. We might, therefore, now be talking about an ability to feature the following lineup:

G Eric Bledsoe
G Brandon Knight
F Kawhi Leonard
F Kristaps Porzingis
C Anthony Davis

... plus Alex Len when the Suns wanted to go big.

Now, we obviously do not know if matters would have shaken out that way, but it could have happened, and one way or another, Phoenix's roster would probably be in better shape—with greater upside—than is currently the case. When you fail to leverage your assets and think ahead, and instead spin your wheels for a couple of years while failing to rebuild, reload, or even make the playoffs, your next phase as a franchise may never realize its potential.

I remain amused by the Suns' rationale for keeping Nash and Hill during the 66-game, lockout-compressed 2012 season: we want them to mentor the young players. Aside from Markieff Morris and possibly Robin Lopez, there were no notable young players! Besides, in Lopez's case, he had already received three years of "mentoring" from Nash and Hill, and Phoenix traded him the following summer, anyway. And as for Morris, we see what all that "mentoring" did for him.

As for the coaching situation, I probably would give Hornacek an extension right now for the purposes of leverage, authority, and continuity, but I can understand why management wants to wait. Luke Walton? He inherited a championship lineup that melds together perfectly. Obviously, he had done a great job, but those results are not going to transfer to other rosters. Steve Nash? He is not a full-time coach, and why would he be better than Hornacek? You cannot pass the ball from the bench. Mike D'Antoni? He is the most important offensive basketball coach of contemporary times, but his innovations and ideas have already been assimilated throughout the NBA. In other words, you do not need D'Antoni in order to embrace his principles, which the Suns—like most teams—have already done. But the bottom line is that Phoenix's troubles stem from personnel, not coaching.