There has been plenty of movement this summer in the NBA, with one of the most active teams in the league being the Phoenix Suns, who are coming off a dreadful 2024-25 campaign. After a tough season, the team traded Kevin Durant for an intriguing haul, making several other moves alongside that as they look to rebuild back into a contending squad.
One of the biggest things they did was hire Jordan Ott as their new Head Coach, with the organization looking to a bright future under the 40-year-old. Recently, his coaching staff was announced, and then on Wednesday, the team made a fantastic hire, reportedly hiring former Charlotte Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford as an advisor.
Over his career, Clifford has been a coach in the NBA for 23 seasons with New York, Orlando, Houston, Los Angeles, and Charlotte, spending 10 seasons behind the bench with the Hornets as Head Coach before departing after the 2023-24 season. While he has a .424 winning percentage as a Head Coach, Clifford is one of the most respected names in the NBA, and given how young Ott and the Suns coaching staff are, bringing in this type of experience is a massive move for Phoenix.
Whether or not this helps the Suns get back into potentially contending in the competitive Western Conference, only time will tell, but with Ott as a first-time Head Coach, the hiring of Clifford can only be a good thing for his future as a coach in the NBA.
