The Suns are narrowing their coaching search to four or five names, including former 76ers coach Doc Rivers and ex-Raptors coach Nick Nurse, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Along with those two, the Suns are considering Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez and Kevin Young, Wojnarowski reported. Young was an assistant under coach Monty Williams with the Suns.
Shams Charania of The Athletic added a fifth name, reporting that former Lakers coach Frank Vogel is also in the mix.
Each of the candidates will meet with GM James Jones and team owner Mat Ishbia in Ishbia’s home state of Michigan, per Charania.
Nurse is also believed to be a prime target for the Sixers, and as we relayed earlier, Vogel has interviewed with Philadelphia as well.
Rivers, 61, coached Philadelphia for three seasons, losing in the second round of the playoffs each time.
The 76ers finished 154-82 under Rivers, who has also served as head coach of the Clippers, Celtics and Magic. Overall he has compiled a 1,097-763 record in 24 seasons, winning a championship in 2008 with Boston.
Nurse, 55, won a championship as coach of the Raptors in 2019, compiling an overall record of 227-163 in five seasons in Toronto. He went 25-16 in the playoffs.
Before becoming head coach in Toronto, Nurse spent five years as an assistant. He also coached the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Iowa Energy of the G League, as well as served as a coach in the British Basketball League.
Fernandez, 40, was the lead assistant to coach Mike Brown during a season in which the Kings won the Pacific Division and made the playoffs in the NBA’s biggest turnaround. He has also been an assistant with the Cavaliers (2009-13) and Nuggets (2016-22) and head coach of the G League’s Canton Charge (2014-16).
Young, 41, has served as a head coach in the G League, and has been an assistant in Phoenix since 2020. Just before that, he served as an assistant with the 76ers for three years.
Vogel, 49, was not a coach anywhere this past season after being fired by the Lakers at the end of the 2021-22.
He spent three years with the Lakers, coaching them during the 2020 championship season in the Disney Bubble.
He has also served as head coach of the Magic and Pacers, compiling a regular-season record of 431-389 in 11 seasons overall.
Looking for the latest NBA Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow Hoops Wire on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NBA News and Rumors for all 30 teams!
