One season only for Suns coach

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have parted ways with veteran coach Mike Budenholzer following one dismal season that featured a fast start before a maddening slide for a high-priced roster that included Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

The Suns made the unsurprising announcement on Monday, one day after the franchise finished with a 36-46 record which put them 11th in the Western Conference. They lost nine of their last 10 games, failing to qualify for the play-in tournament.

The team says “competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season.”

The 55-year-old Budenholzer was hired in May, replacing Frank Vogel, who also had a one-year tenure that ended in disappointment. Coach Bud — an Arizona native — won an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, beating the Suns in six games in the Finals, and the hope was he could finally bring a championship to the desert.

Budenholzer has a 520-363 career record over 11 NBA seasons with the Hawks, Bucks and Suns.

Pelicans fire basketball operations chief

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans have fired basketball operations chief David Griffin.

The move ends a six-year chapter during which the club drafted former Duke star Zion Williamson but still struggled to win consistently with three different coaches. Griffin leaves his post a day after a 115-100 loss to Oklahoma City that extended the club’s season-ending skid to seven games.

The Pelicans’ 21-61 record was fourth worst in the NBA this season and was the franchise’s second-worst mark since arriving in New Orleans in 2002. The Pelicans qualified for postseason play the previous three seasons but never won a first-round series.

UConn star goes No. 1 in draft

NEW YORK — Paige Bueckers is headed to Dallas as the first pick Monday night in the WNBA draft.

The versatile UConn star is the latest Huskies standout to go No. 1, joining former greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.

Bueckers has had a whirlwind week since helping UConn win its 12th national championship on April 6. She has split her time between New York and Connecticut doing morning and nighttime talk shows. On Sunday, she took part in the Huskies’ championship parade.

Her UConn teammates, who have meant so much to her, and coach Geno Auriemma were in attendance at the draft, which was held at The Shed in New York with hundreds of fans in attendance. Bueckers choked up when talking about her former Huskies teammates.

“They mean everything to me. They helped me get through highs and lows,” Bueckers said.

Seattle quickly followed Dallas’ selection by taking 19-year-old French star Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick. The 6-foot-6 Malonga was part of the silver medal winning French Olympic basketball team. She’s the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.

The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, then took Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron with the third pick, and Southern Cal’s Kiki Iriafen with No. 4. They also took Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore with the sixth pick.

The expansion Golden State Valkyries made Juste Jocyte of Lithuania with the first draft choice in franchise history.

Connecticut had consecutive picks and took LSU’s Aneesah Morrow seventh and N.C. State’s Saniya Rivers eighth.

Six teams don’t have picks in the opening round as New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Atlanta traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.

Pitt lands guard from Iowa State

PITTSBURGH — Four-star guard Nojus Indrusaitis has signed an aid agreement to join the Pitt men’s basketball team after spending his freshman year at Iowa State last season.

The Chicago, Ill., native has three seasons of eligibility remaining and joins former Cyclone teammate Dishon Jackson for the 2025-26 season.

Indrusaitis played in 15 games as a true freshman at Iowa State averaging 2.1 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 5.8 minutes per game.

The 6-5, 200-pound guard averaged 20.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game for Lithuania at the 2024 U18 Eurobasket event.

Indrusaitis was a consensus four-star, top 100 player in the country by all three national outlets, ranking No. 67 by ESPN, No. 83 by Rivals and No. 85 by 247Sports. He played his senior year at Brewster Academy, where he led the team to a 27-7 record and was named the New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year.

From Mirror, wire reports