Bu Shuai's contract is over 50 million in 5 years! The Suns snatched the Lakers' favorite, and Durant won the title again

Li Xilin's basketball lore

2024-05-11 11:50Posted in Beijing Sports Creators

In the 2021 NBA Finals, Budenholzer led the Bucks to defeat the Suns 4-2 to win the championship. No one expected that only 3 years later, the head coach who was fierce in his heart would become the new commander of the Phoenix Legion. Plans can never catch up with change. The Suns adopted an efficient change of coach, firing Vogel less than 24 hours after striking a deal with Budenholzer, giving the championship coach a five-year, contract of more than $50 million. Bu Shuai is also a candidate for the Lakers' selection of coaches, but he didn't expect the Suns to shoot faster and more ruthlessly, quickly poaching one of the Lakers' intended people.

Bu Shuai's contract is over 50 million in 5 years! The Suns snatched the Lakers' favorite, and Durant won the title again

There is a reason why the Suns are quick to make a move, there are not many famous coaches who are at home at the moment, and there is only one coach like Budenholzer who has won a championship and has been active in the NBA in recent years. The NBA coach selection is also based on ability, in order to avoid long nights and dreams, there are only advantages and no disadvantages in quickly getting the coach.

The Suns are not worried about the coaching contract, after all, owner Matt Ishbia is not short of money. In May 2024, Ishbia's assets have reached $10.1 billion. Ishbia is crazy about burning money and daring to gamble, and after he took office, the team brought in Durant and poached Beal to build a luxury roster.

The Suns gave Bu Shuai a five-year contract of more than $50 million, making Bu Shuai another coach in the NBA with an annual salary of 10 million. Today, the top NBA coaches are entering the ranks of tens of millions of annual salaries.

Budenholzer is an Arizona native and was a Suns fan as a child. Bu Shuai is from the Spurs department, and has been a coach under Popovich for many years, winning 4 championships as an assistant coach and witnessing the rise of the Spurs dynasty. Bu Shuai later coached both the Hawks and the Bucks to good performances.

He coached the Hawks from 2013 to 2018, with a 213-197 record, helping the Hawks become a powerhouse in the East and was named Coach of the Year in 2014-15.

The team was re-elected as the best coach in 2018-19 and led the Bucks to championship in 2020-21. Bu Shuai coached the Bucks to a 271-120 record.

Throughout his coaching career, Bu Shuai's coaching record reached 484 wins and 317 losses, ranking fifth among coaches in the NBA who have coached at least 800 games, and Bu Shuai's coaching win rate of 60.4% ranks fifth. Phil Jackson was first with 70.4 percent, Auerbach was second with 66.1 percent, Riley was third with 63.6 percent and Popovich was fourth with 62.8 percent.

Obviously, judging from the coaching resume, Budenholzer is second to none among many coaching candidates, and Budenholzer is an Arizona native, which is equivalent to a fellow countryman, which makes the Suns want to get Bu Shuai as soon as possible.

In addition, it is very important to note that the coach has a wealth of experience coaching star players. When he was an assistant coach with the Spurs, the Spurs had David Robinson, Duncan, Parker, Ginobili. When he coached the Hawks, he pushed Horford, Korver, Millsap and Teague to be All-Stars together in the 2014-15 season. Coming to coach the Bucks has allowed Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Holiday to form a very tacit trident.

An important task for the Suns is to reconcile the relationship between Durant, Booker and Beal, so that all three can play and not be inhibited. Clearly, the Suns' Big Three haven't had enough chemistry this season. Durant was uncomfortable, and Booker and Beal weren't comfortable.

Vogel failed to solve this problem, and now the problem is left to Bu Shuai. The test of the coach is not small, after all, the team's salary space has been locked, the annual salary of the Big Three has exceeded $150 million, and the team lacks people in the point guard and center positions, but there is no big contract to poach people, and there is also a lack of trade chips to poach people. The boss can only count on general manager James Jones to bring him some cheap and good players to fill in the gaps.

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