Ryan McDonough becomes head of basketball operations!

[Kerrsed]

Lon Babby will transition from president of the Phoenix Suns to senior advisor on August 1st.

Ryan McDonough will become head of basketball operations for the Suns.

Babby is a former player agent.

“I am grateful that Robert has accommodated my wish to reduce my work load, while remaining a vital part of the Suns organization. At this stage of my career, I welcome the flexibility that comes with this new role, a flexibility that will enable me to do other things that are important to me both personally and in the community. I feel particularly confident in making this transition because of the quality of leadership in place within the organization,” said Babby.

McDonough is running the entire show now!

[ShawnBronald]

I think this is fantastic news. Now Basketball Operations has one voice (well, if Sarver can stay out of things). I'm glad Lon is sticking around in a lesser capacity, I do think he brought a few things to the table. I'll be interested to see what Ryan will do now that he's 'the man'.

[saintEscaton]

Nice to see that the Babbler willingly stepped down, but not comforted by the prospect of McDuh calling all the shots now.

[SUN]

So Lon, Babby.

[bwgood77]

Nice to see that the Babbler willingly stepped down, but not comforted by the prospect of McDuh calling all the shots now.

It's a little scary, since it seems like the players that have left don't seem to have a ton of respect for McD. Hopefully he continues to learn and has a vision that is clearly communicated and executed.

[Sunsdeuce]

I have a question.

Why does realgm use this same picture for every story about the suns FO?

[Puff]

It's about time that Babby stepped down. The problem is that he should have been fired long ago. It further proves that Sarver has no clue. It is reported that he is going to stay on as some sort of advisor. I hope it is some sort of legal advisor role and has nothing to do with the basketball operations.

Virtually every key player and manager that was on board when Sarver purchased the team is gone. They are all having betting success at their new destinations than the Suns have enjoyed since they left.

Hopefully Sarver leaves sooner than later. He is the real problem.

At this point I Will support McDonough but he has a lot to prove, I have no choice. His actions this summer will be interesting.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

I just realized something. My favorite player on the Suns right now... Ryan McDonough. Not Len, not Warren - though they're close. But that's just it. The players I like, I have faith that we'll keep and acquire more of because of McDonough.

Having a smart front office gives me more hope than any other component. McD is the man. If Sarver's smart, he'll pay him enough to keep him here as long as possible.

Anyone else feel the same?

[Flying Colors]

from what i heard, babby is the one who spearhead most of the contract negotiations for all the players (which he did a pretty alright job of), i imagine his role will come to advise Ryan in those regards

[Qwigglez]

So that means the Suns are hiring for a GM. We should all put in our resumes!

[Kerrsed]

So that means the Suns are hiring for a GM. We should all put in our resumes!

McD is taking over that title. He is GM and President of Basketball Operations. What that means is now if he wants to do something, Babby wont be in his way anymore. The only person that can really have any say is Sarver.

[batsmasher]

[tweet]http://twitter.com/GeraldBourguet/status/608684566472085507[/tweet]

[jcsunsfan]

So that means the Suns are hiring for a GM. We should all put in our resumes!

McD is taking over that title. He is GM and President of Basketball Operations. What that means is now if he wants to do something, Babby wont be in his way anymore. The only person that can really have any say is Sarver.

My guess is that this basically how they have been function since McD arrived, they are now just changing the titles to match the function.

[RaisingArizona]

Nice to see that the Babbler willingly stepped down, but not comforted by the prospect of McDuh calling all the shots now.

It's a little scary, since it seems like the players that have left don't seem to have a ton of respect for McD. Hopefully he continues to learn and has a vision that is clearly communicated and executed.

The fact that Goran doesn't like McD, makes me like McD more.

[RaisingArizona]

I just realized something. My favorite player on the Suns right now... Ryan McDonough. Not Len, not Warren - though they're close. But that's just it. The players I like, I have faith that we'll keep and acquire more of because of McDonough.

Having a smart front office gives me more hope than any other component. McD is the man. If Sarver's smart, he'll pay him enough to keep him here as long as possible.

Anyone else feel the same?

Before McD this team was a mess. Beasley, Brown, and Marshall. Just terrible and old. It takes time to turn it around but we're heading in the right direction.

[bwgood77]

Nice to see that the Babbler willingly stepped down, but not comforted by the prospect of McDuh calling all the shots now.

It's a little scary, since it seems like the players that have left don't seem to have a ton of respect for McD. Hopefully he continues to learn and has a vision that is clearly communicated and executed.

The fact that Goran doesn't like McD, makes me like McD more.

Interesting. Frye and the others too? It seems like players and even other GMs have a lot of ammo to influence players they shouldn't sign with the Suns. Not as much because of Dragic, but IT signed here and was traded, the other guy we signed was traded. The PG we drafted we traded. They may say we are tough to negotiate with and point to how long it took to sign Bledsoe. Then they can just throw the Frye and Dragic comments on top, but that's probably less of a factor since those guys simply decided they'd rather play elsewhere and were tired of the say one thing, do another.

I think McD is talented and a good evaluator of talent. I'm not sure he's going to be a guy free agents will want to sign with or deal with though. We are probably pretty much going to have to build through the draft, which is fine, because I think that's what we should do.

[bwgood77]

So that means the Suns are hiring for a GM. We should all put in our resumes!

McD is taking over that title. He is GM and President of Basketball Operations. What that means is now if he wants to do something, Babby wont be in his way anymore. The only person that can really have any say is Sarver.

I'm not entirely sure he had much say in the matter anyway. He seemed to be more of a spokesman and probably coached McD a little bit on dealing with agents since he was one and now can just advise if it's needed.

[Marz11]

I have a question.

Why does realgm use this same picture for every story about the suns FO?

HAND DOWN, MAN DOWN!!!

McD has to learn that the team is made up of human beings that are complex individually but even more complex when put together. Not everything is numbers.

[lilfishi22]

I don't think this will change too much of the dynamics at the top. I've always felt Babby was more the spokesperson and senior adviser to McD anyway. His experience also made conversations with free agents and the media a lot easier for McD.

[TASTIC]

I had this effed up dream the other night.

Suns starting lineup was

Bledsoe
Danny Green
MELO...
Millsap
Len

And bench
BWright
David West
Granger
GGreen
Calderon
Warren

So yeah...by my calculations we had two big signings and a monster trade. Morri, Bullock, Goodwin, Tucker, Thornton and #13 gone...