In a chat with the media ahead of the opening round of the playoffs, Celtics star Jrue Holiday spoke up about the situation in Phoenix, regarding his former coach Mike Budenholzer. Bud was recently fired by the Suns and Holiday was asked to respond as someone he won a championship with
“Can you be surprised by anything now? People get traded and crazy trades happen. A lot of coaches get fired and nobody knows the exact reason… But I mean, Bud’s sitting on a bag.”
Budenholzer was only in his first season with the Bucks and is still owed $40 million over the next four years. After he was hired last summer, the Suns went 36-46 in the regular season (11th in the West). They were a complete mess on the court and the locker room turned toxic after he tried to get Bradley Beal to play like Jrue Holiday.
“I also don’t know what he meant by saying that,” said Holiday. “Let me just do me and go out here and try to get as many rings as I can.”
Budenholzer is one of two coaches in NBA history to win a championship on the Bucks. In 2021, he led them to the title with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday. That Bucks squad was in total synch and they played both ends of the floor thanks to guys like Jrue, who embraced their role and found ways to have an impact on the court.
Budenholzer tried to replicate that success in Phoenix and the results were devastating. Unlike with the Bucks, Phoenix did not have the personnel to keep up on defense and they were routinely exposed on that end of the floor night after night.
For Beal in particular, he was never able to find his place on the Suns and his tenure will be remembered as an utter failure. With averages of 17.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game on 49.7% shooting, Beal was putting up decent numbers in Phoenix but it wasn’t enough to justify paying him $160 million over the next three years.
At the deadline, the Suns tried to bench Beal in hopes of getting him to waive his no-trade clause but the disrespect went deeper than that. They tried to get Beal to change his game and identity to emulate Jrue Holiday, and he considered it the ultimate betrayal.
This summer, if the Suns can’t work out a trade for Beal, they could agree to buy out his contract to free up the roster and add some flexibility. At this point, the only player safe from the trade block is Devin Booker, who is expected to accept a four-year max contract extension this summer.
As a 2x NBA champion, Jrue Holiday has nothing left to prove in his career and he’s already moved on from his Bucks tenure. With the Celtics, Jrue has another chance at NBA greatness and that’s all he’s focused on for now.
As the Suns begin a long and brutal offseason, finding Bud’s replacement will be a top priority but the process is only just beginning. In a summer of change for the Suns, it’s impossible to predict how things will play out but there’s no easy fix to what has become an ugly situation.
