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Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic had it first on Twitter, and this comes as a surprise to absolutely no one as Turner has been away from the team mulling over his options since Hunter was named head coach.
While Turner was deciding how to move forward, Hunter actually did move forward and named Igor Kokoskov as his lead assistant. He also promoted Noel Gillespie and brought back former Suns scout and CBA coach Dan Panaggio to aid him moving forward.
With Hunter as a defensive-minded coach and Kokoskov as his new offensive-minded lead assistant, there really wasn't any room for Turner on the staff.
According to Craig Grialou, Turner will get the same treatment as Dan Majerle.
#Suns, lead assistant Elston Turner mutually agree to part ways; his contract will be honored for the rest of the season
— Craig Grialou (@Craig620) January 24, 2013
The Suns have continued to clean house. It is now Lindsey Hunter's show to run.
**Update**
Comments by Turner from our good buddies Craig and Paul:
Former #Suns Turner, "When I found out that I did not get the job, (I was) highly upset and who wouldn’t be"
— Craig Grialou (@Craig620) January 24, 2013
Go check out Coro's story. Some really interesting stuff in there, including that Turner wanted to stay.
Turner went to a coaches’ meeting Tuesday morning but was told by interim coach Lindsey Hunter that Suns management wanted to speak to him before he took up the offer to return to the staff.
"The whole meeting had a dark cloud hanging over it," Turner said. "It just gave me the impression that roles may change. Instead of viewing me as an asset, it made it seem like they couldn’t use my experience or they would have to try to work me in. The whole tone was negative."