Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young is staying with the franchise on a new deal worth more than $2 million annually that’ll make him the NBA’s highest-paid assistant coach, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
The Suns were determined to keep Young on new coach Frank Vogel’s staff and made a significant commitment to keep him from following former coach Monty Williams to the Detroit Pistons, sources said.
Young has become one of the league’s top assistant coaches and was one of the three finalists for the job that Vogel eventually landed on Friday. Young has a strong relationship with Suns star Devin Booker and had a great deal of support within the organization to be retained with Vogel.
Vogel is finalizing a five-year deal to become the franchise’s new head coach.
Young spent eight years coaching in the G League — including head-coaching jobs with the Utah Flash, Iowa Energy and Delaware 87ers — and gained momentum as a head-coaching candidate in openings this year, including with the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets and Suns. Young previously interviewed for head-coaching jobs with the Sixers, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards in recent seasons.
This story originally appeared on ESPN
