The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Earl Watson.
The Phoenix Suns opened the season with a 124-76 loss to the Portland Trailblazers — a game that saw small forward T.J. Warren post a -42 +/-, and somehow, things have gotten worse since then.
While both NBA fans and NBA betting sites predicted that they wouldn’t be good this year, following losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers, the team found themselves 0-3 and after today, they could be without one of their best players soon.
Clearly frustrated, point guard Eric Bledsoe sent out the following tweet today
I Dont wanna be here
— Eric Bledsoe (@EBled2) October 22, 2017
It’s no secret that the team has dangled the talented point guard on the trade market over the last year, but they may now be forced to accept even less in return to rid themselves of Bledsoe and start re-building with players who want to be there.
Last season, Bledsoe posted borderline All-Star numbers with 21.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 33 minutes a game.
This season, those numbers have dropped to 15.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.3 steals in just 27.7 minutes a game.
There’s no shortage of players around the league who would like to see Bledsoe added to their squads. We all know that LeBron James pushed for an Eric Bledsoe trade this summer and today, LA Clippers center DeAndre Jordan appeared to express his desire to see Bledsoe joining the Clippers when he posted this:
Come back home bro
— DeAndre Jordan (@DeAndre) October 22, 2017
Whatever happens with Bledsoe, it won’t be up to Earl Watson to manage his minutes anymore as the team made the decision to fire Watson earlier today.
Watson, who himself came to the position as an interim head coach following the team’s firing of Jeff Hornacek in 2016, departs with a 33-85 record as head coach of the club. A former 13-year NBA veteran, Watson had little actual coaching experience prior to being named head coach. He spent one season coaching in the D-League (now G-League) and another as an assistant in Phoenix.
Records aside, Watson and general manager Ryan McDonough reportedly had a poor relationship, with the pair frequently butting heads. It’s believed that the team’s owner Robert Sarver, was also not a fan of Watson.
The Suns have promoted assistant coach Jay Triano to interim head coach. Triano was 87-142 in just over two seasons as head coach of the Toronto Raptors.
The Suns play the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
