Utah Jazz assistant coach Chad Forcier is headed to Phoenix and will be joining Mike Budenholzer’s staff coaching the Suns, according to league sources.
The move does not come as much of a surprise considering Forcier’s history with Budenholzer, who was recently hired as head coach of the Suns to replace the outgoing Frank Vogel. Forcier spent four years on Budenholzer’s staff with the Milwaukee Bucks and before that the two shared a number of years together on the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff.
Forcier is the second Jazz assistant coach to depart this offseason. It was reported earlier this month that Lamar Skeeter would join the Charlotte Hornets coaching staff under newly hired Charles Lee. Skeeter had been on the Jazz coaching staff since 2014, under Quin Snyder, and was one of the final holdovers from the previous coaching era.
The departure of Forcier and Skeeter does not mean that there will be new coaches coming to Utah from the outside. Team sources said the plan is to promote from within to fill the coaching vacancies on Will Hardy’s staff.
One of the first moves will be promoting Sean Sheldon to the front of the coaching bench. Sheldon started out in the NBA as a video coordinator in San Antonio. Hardy brought Sheldon to Utah in 2022 as an assistant coach, where he has established himself as a trusted voice to the players and other coaches.
Other internal promotions are expected to happen over the course of the offseason and could include promoting members of the video coordinating staff to the coaching staff.