GM: Bledsoe likely done as Sun
McDonough: Watson fired to ‘reset’ plans
Fewer than 24 hours after coach Earl Watson was fired and fewer than three hours after disgruntled point guard Eric Bledsoe was sent home, Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said the organization was undergoing a “reset.”
“This is a turning of the page,” McDonough said.
What a tumultuous first week of the season it’s been for the Suns. They’re 0-3, including the worst loss in franchise history and a 42-point loss to the Clippers . On Sunday, Watson was fired as coach and assistant Jay Triano was named interim coach.
Then, on Monday morning, Bledsoe showed up for work only to be told by McDonough that his services were no longer needed or wanted. This, after Bledsoe tweeted out the words, “I Dont wanna be here,” just more than an hour before Watson’s firing on Sunday.
“I’ve pretty much seen it all now in my years in the NBA,” said guard Devin Booker, who’s in his third season.
McDonough said Watson’s firing was due in part to the team’s poor start but also a strained relationship with Phoenix’s front office and ownership. He added that his working relationship with Watson “wasn’t great.” Late last season Watson said it was management’s decision to sit center Tyson Chandler for the final 25 games of the season and Bledsoe for the final 15.
“There was a lack of alignment organizationally,” McDonough said. “I just think we’re different people with different approaches.”
McDonough said he made the recommendation to fire Watson to Managing General Partner Robert Sarver, and Sarver quickly agreed. Sarver was not available for comment Monday; McDonough said he had a banking meeting.
“He’s a busy guy. He has a lot going on,” McDonough said. “I’m the general manager of the team. I get paid a lot of money to sit here and get interrogated by you guys.”
McDonough said the decision to fire Watson, whose contract runs through the 2018-19 season, was based on an evaluation over the past 18 months. He said the front office had “a number of meetings” with Watson over the summer to talk about player development and accountability but, “We didn’t see those changes. You guys saw the first three games. There was a lack of development and a lack of individual player improvement and growth. We realize we’re a young team and an inexperienced team, but at the same time we expect a baseline level of organization, effort and strategy. And I felt like we had fallen short in those areas.
“We expect to be competitive and for the guys to play hard and be put in positions to be effective offensively and defensively and we didn’t feel that was getting done. We thought it was time for a new voice and direction.”
McDonough said he believes Triano, who coached Toronto from 2008-11 (87142 record) and was a Portland Trail Blazers assistant for four years, will make some strategic changes and bring back a basketball focus “that I feel has been lacking.”
Triano said one of the first things he’ll do is play a more traditional lineup, with Marquese Chriss or Dragan Bender starting at power forward. Watson had been playing a smaller lineup with Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren at forward.
“I think he’s all about basketball, and he’s got a player development focus,” McDonough added.
Triano, who is Phoenix’s fifth coach since 2013, will serve as interim coach the rest of the season and is a candidate for the permanent job, McDonough said. But Triano said he’s not sure he wants the job beyond this season, saying his stint with the Raptors made him realize he’s “about basketball,” rather than someone who also enjoys responsibilities like meeting with the media and seasonticket holders. “I’m envious right now that our assistant coaches are in there talking about the game while I’m here talking to you,” Triano said. “We’ll see how it goes. I’m going to embrace this 100 percent and give to it like everything else in my career.”
McDonough said Triano is “smart enough,” to delegate and that assistant Tyrone Corbin will have more responsibility running the Suns’ defense.
Booker said he was surprised and upset Watson was fired after just three games but added: “It’s a business. We understand that.” Booker also said it’s wrong to fault Watson for the Suns losing two of their first three games by at least 40 points. “As players, you can’t blame two 40-point losses on the coach,” Booker said. “It comes with effort, love of the game, and we haven’t shown that yet.”
Asked why, Booker replied, “Honestly, we’re looking for the answers.”
Booker said he didn’t believe Watson had lost the team, and McDonough said no players came forward to either him or Sarver saying Watson needed to be fired.
“I think this reflects poorly on all of us,” McDonough said. “We own that and take responsibility for that.”
The decision to send Bledsoe home while the Suns try to work out a trade was made because “we didn’t want him to be a distraction,” McDonough said.
McDonough said he and Bledsoe talked Sunday night and that Bledsoe told him his tweet wasn’t about his desire to leave the Suns but his wanting to leave a hair salon where he was waiting on his wife.
“I didn’t believe that to be true,” McDonough said.