The Phoenix Suns announced that they have come to terms with Utah Jazz assistant Igor Kokoskov to become the team's next Head Coach on Wednesday, according to ESPN and Adrian Wojnarowski. It is a three-year deal and makes Kokoskov the first head coach to be born and raised outside of the United States in NBA history. Kokoskov will be taking over form Jay Triano, who coached the Suns for 79 games with a 21-58 record and become the 19th head coach in team history. This makes waves as the Utah Jazz are currently in a playoff series against the Houston Rockets in the second round of the Western Conference.
Who is Igor Kokoskov?
Kokoskov is a native of Serbia and will begin his coaching duties as Phoenix's new head coach as soon as the Utah Jazz are eliminated from the playoffs. He has been an assistant coach in the NBA since 2000 with six different teams. He also won an NBA Championship as part of the coaching staff with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. He has been a member of the Utah Jazz coaching staff since 2015 and has helped players like Rookie of the Year candidate Donovan Mitchell reach their potential. He has also been successful outside of the NBA, winning the Eurobasket European Basketball Championship in 2017 as the coach of Slovenia.
Where do the Suns go from here?
The Suns are in a tough situation as they are unable to figure out how to be successful as a team.
They have a star that they can market around in Devin Booker. The team also holds a 25 percent chance of obtaining the first overall draft pick and a 64.2 percent chance it will be a top-three pick since they had the worst record (21-61). The Suns have not made the playoffs since losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2010 Western Conference Finals.
The team will mostly be the same as it ended the year as only Elfrid Payton and Alex Len are eligible for free agency. Pheonix is in desperate need of a big man to control the paint and Karl Malone Award winner Deandre Ayton can transition from the power forward spot to be their center of the future. These two young stars will definitely need some veteran presence to help mature them in the league, but the veteran needs to be able to produce on the court as well to help Pheonix climb out of the hole.
Another solution would be to continue to pick up lottery picks in the next few NBA Drafts and have a young group that could prove to be a force in the NBA for years to come. The Golden State Warriors did just that to compile most of their core players, drafting Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and others to assemble their championship winning teams. Will the Suns be the next superteam in the making or just a group of young players that become a feeding system for the rest of the league? Kokoskov will have to make that decision.
