Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer is slated to start Tyus Jones at point guard during the 2024-25 season. Budenholzer told Steve Aschburner of NBA.com on September 27th that starting Jones will help the team have a more organization offense.

Certainly we feel like Tyus has established himself as a great starting point guard in our league and he will be our starter. When you put him out there with Kevin, Brad, Book and Nurk [Jusuf Nurkic], we feel like we’ve got a strong starting five. And a really strong bench behind them.

Tyus can help us play faster. He’s great with the kick-aheads, he’s great with getting teammates involved in transition.But then also in the halfcourt. He’s a guy who has always been a high assists guy, low turnovers. He can get us organized. Everyone talks about how much talent we have. Hopefully he can put them in positions to be their best.

Mike Budenholzer’s coaching style

Unfortunately, Budenholzer’s statement is misleading as his offensive system is dependent upon the team’s roster. Mike  told Aschburner during the same interview that the skill set strengths of the roster influences his offensive system.    

The most important thing for NBA coaches to have success is to find what fits the talent of your team the best. That’s the challenge for me. You used the word “hybrid” – I think that’s a good way to describe it.

There are some things that are just fundamental to winning that, no matter what team I’ve been with or anyone else, you’ve got to do. And then there are things that will be specific to our talent and what we have in Phoenix. We have to maximize it.

Budenholzer’s tenure with the Atlanta Hawks

Budenholzer originally wanted a system centered around ball movement. During his introductory press conference with the Hawks, he stated that ball movement offensives were becoming a trend in the league. 

“I think the league and the NBA, whether it’s fundamentals or the style of playing, is moving toward the style that we’re playing,” Budenholzer said. “I look forward to bringing to Atlanta the ball movement and people movement and people sharing and participating and a little bit less of the one on one.

Luckily for him, Hawks players embraced the style during his early seasons with the team. Before the 2014-15 season, Kyle Korver applauded the front office for assembling a roster that embraced the offense.

“I just think everyone is very comfortable,” said guard Kyle Korver. “Our management and coaching staff have done a good job of bringing in players who fit our system well. A big part of what we do is chemistry. This isn’t an isolation-heavy system. A big part of what we do is predicated on ball movement and chemistry and having a good feel for each other.

Consequently, the Hawks were in the top ten in passes per game during his first three seasons, averaging 322 per game.

Budenholzer’s tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks

However, Mike Budenholzer modified his system upon arriving in Milwaukee. Mike significantly reduced the amount of ball movement, as Milwaukee averaged 269 passes per game in five seasons.

He replaced the ball movement by building on the foundation set by former Bucks and current Mavs head coach Jason Kidd. At the end of the 2015-16 season, Kidd indicated that he wanted to maximize Giannis Antetokounmpo’s skill set. Kidd told the media that Antetokounmpo had the tools to be a point forward.

“We’re going to go forward with him handling the ball,” Kidd told reporters, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “You can call him point guard, point forward, point center, however you want to look at it.

“With him having the ball and the pressure he puts on the defense and his ability to find guys, has been a plus for us.”

Antetokounmpo’s touches increased by 21.9% over the next two seasons, averaging 83.9 per game. Giannis spent 21.9% of his offensive possessions, averaging 5.2 per game, a 44.4% increase from the 2015-16 season. Antetokounmpo’s time in transition led the team to be in the top ten in the play type, averaging 18 possessions per game.

Budenholzer continued to use and enhance Kidd’s blueprint with one alteration. Milwaukee was in the top five in transition possessions, averaging 22.3 per game during his five seasons with the club. Giannis accounted for 31.8% of those possessions, averaging 7.1 per game.  

Although the transition play type was still a staple of their offense, Budenholzer convinced the team to change its shot profile. Milwaukee ranked in the bottom half of the league in threes per game under Kidd, averaging 24.2. They increased their threes per game by 59.5% under Budenholzer, averaging 38.6.

Phoenix Suns

Given  Budenholzer’s track record, he is likely to build an offensive system for the Phoenix Suns based on the skill set strengths of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. Booker has spent 28.6% of his offensive possessions over the past four seasons as a pick-and-roll ball handler, averaging 7.2 per game.

On the other hand, Durant is more of an isolation player, averaging 4.2 per game. The Phoenix Suns’ offensive system catered to Durant’s preferences last season. The team was fifth in isolation possessions, averaging 9.2 per game.  

Budenholzer is unlikely to significantly change the offense because Durant reportedly wants a more prominent role.  Kevin felt like he stood in the corner too often in the team’s pick-and-roll offense.

Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls.”

If these statements are true, Durant’s beliefs are wrong, as the team didn’t pick and roll frequently. Phoenix was 26th in this play type, averaging 15.4 per game.

Regardless of the facts, Phoenix will likely run more isolations because of Budenholzer’s history and to keep Durant happy.