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The Phoenix Suns have reached an agreement on a three-year deal to retain Earl Watson as head coach.
Watson will be the 17th head coach in franchise history, coming off Phoenix’s second-worst regular season ever (23-59).
Watson was named interim head coach on February 1 during the 2015-16 season following the Suns’ decision to fire their former head coach, Jeff Hornacek.
Under the lead of Watson, the Suns compiled a disappointing record (9-23) in 33 games to finish the regular season.
However, players seemingly responded positively to having Watson as head coach, showing improvements in production and efficiency as a young, asset-rich team.
The epitome of the improved performance under the new coach came from the youngest player in the NBA, 19-year-old, Devin Booker.
Booker was granted more opportunities under Watson’s tutelage, showing an individual 12 minutes per-game increase following the month of February (35.3 MPG). Booker responded to the coaching change by averaging 19.2 PPG, in comparison to just 10.6 PPG under Hornacek.
Phoenix will be looking to improve this offseason following this head coaching deal, but there is still plenty of work ahead for Suns general manager, Ryan McDonough.
The Suns will be testing the interest of productive free agents to improve their team. Meanwhile, they must face the indecisive nature of their own impending unrestricted free-agents; Jon Leuer, Chase Budinger, Mirza Teletovic and Price.
Phoenix must also consider that the team is poised to be the owners of four of the top 34 draft picks in this year’s 2016 NBA Draft. Young talent and player development will be a core strategy of the organisation going forward.
McDonough must make his offseason decisions based on future team success and the development of young talent.
This rebuilding process will now start with Watson.
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