Phoenix Suns GM search

[WeekapaugGroove]

I don't know what to think of this guy as a GM.

First, I didn't even know he existed in the Pistons organization, as supposedly SVG was running the whole show there.

But, assuming he has had any influence on the very mediocre product the Pistons have put on the court for the past 5 seasons, I don't really see any reason to be excited. It really makes no sense to look at specific trades and signings he's made if the final sum of the parts sucks. It's not signing a superstar that makes you win, its what you are able to surround him with that shows your ability as a GM.

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But we don’t know official titles yet right? Couldn’t he just be a senior advisor? It’s not like he’s giving up another gm job to come here.

Yes. But reports say he is being considered for the GM job.

The Sr Advisor thingie is just speculation made here.

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The wording in the woj article just says 'senior front office position'. At this point none of us know what the titles or chain of command would be.

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[WeekapaugGroove]

Not sure if this has been brought up in another thread but I was listening to 910 on Friday and they interviewed bill Walton, most of the talk was about the final 4 but the suns and sarver were touched on and bill defended sarver and said he's known him for years because of their San Diego connection. I didn't know this and does make me wonder if the suns could be interested in Luke when the Lakers can him.

Now I am encouraged by the player development and with Jones and buck staying I think it Igor is far more likely to return. But Luke Walton would be my top choice if they did make a move and that family connection is interesting.

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I was thinking about this last night actually. I think it would be a really bad move to switch coaches. I wouldn't mind Luke (better than a lot of names) if we do move on from Igor but I think it would be a step back...just once again starting over and the players having to reset with someone who is probably worse at player development, almost certainly worse as a game tactician and with far less experience. But it obviously wouldn't surprise me. I think Jones/Bukstein would probably prefer to keep Igor but with Sarver you never know what kind of move he's going to want to make.

I'm in favor of keeping Igor around too. But never knew that sarver and bill knew each other so found that connection interesting.

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[bwgood77]

But we don’t know official titles yet right? Couldn’t he just be a senior advisor? It’s not like he’s giving up another gm job to come here.

Yes. But reports say he is being considered for the GM job.

The Sr Advisor thingie is just speculation made here.

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The wording in the woj article just says 'senior front office position'. At this point none of us know what the titles or chain of command would be.

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Honestly even what Woj wrote seemed like speculation to some extent since nothing is official. It seems pretty clear to me it comes from another source...but this source was likely also interviewing for the position and was told Jones would still have decision making power...

Sarver has discussed with prospective job candidates a senior advising role that will allow interim GM James Jones to continue in a lead front-office capacity with decision-making power, league sources said.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26459189/suns-sarver-focusing-hiring-bower

It wouldn't surprise me if some of the other people who interviewed were not that interested if it was just an advisory role with no real decision making power.

[darmani]

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[WeekapaugGroove]

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Not exactly the structure I would have went with but titles really don't mean much. I like Jones and hope he does well. I thought he did a good job considering the situation he took over. But the real test comes this summer.

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[Gorilla Warfare]

Zion/Kyrie or Ja/KD this offseason or we riot.

[bwgood77]

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Not exactly the structure I would have went with but titles really don't mean much. I like Jones and hope he does well. I thought he did a good job considering the situation he took over. But the real test comes this summer.

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Well IIRC you advocated for James Jones to be POBO with Bower under him and Bukstein GM but I think this is essentially the same.

When Jones was VP of basketball operations, he was still under the GM, so perhaps Bower will be, along with Bukstein who will do the more actual nuts and bolts of the GM-ing.

Edit: Yes, Bower is under Jones..

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[Crives]

Great news, really liked what Jones did as interim gm. Good to see Trevor is staying.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Zion/Kyrie or Ja/KD this offseason or we riot.

That's just an unrealistic expectation. For one the suns don't have the cap space for a max guy and where they fall in the lotto isn't something a GM can control. Plus even if they had max cap room it's not like KD or Kyrie would want to come here.

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[BobbieL]

Zion/Kyrie or Ja/KD this offseason or we riot.

That's just an unrealistic expectation. For one the suns don't have the cap space for a max guy and where they fall in the lotto isn't something a GM can control. Plus even if they had max cap room it's not like KD or Kyrie would want to come here.

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1) do not want Ja Morant to be the Suns PG no matter how good he MIGHT be

2) hard to get cap space for a max player without really taking away some of the depth

3) there is a core here - try to do what teams like the Nuggets, Jazz, Blazers do - create TEAMS. I get Lillard is very good but create a team that is more than the sum of the parts.


As for the Front Office - just make it official - Igor is our coach. And lets roll

[WeekapaugGroove]

What I really like about Jones is if you look at the players he brought in and ones he removed is all signs point to him really understanding the culture aspect of building a winning team. Which makes sense because he was a 'glue guy' type on multiple championship teams so I think he has a very good understanding of that dynamic. As much as I hated watching Crawford play I do think he was very good for the locker room. Oubre's fun and swaggy style along with his effort was such a breath of fresh air compared to Ariza and Johnson brought toughness and work ethic you need around young guys.

Now culture only goes so far and the real test will be how Jones does with player evaluations and ability to upgrade the talent while still keeping the culture right. That's not easy but I'm willing to give him a chance. McD had ZERO understanding of cultural fit or roster balance.

[BobbieL]

What I really like about Jones is if you look at the players he brought in and ones he removed is all signs point to him really understanding the culture aspect of building a winning team. Which makes sense because he was a 'glue guy' type on multiple championship teams so I think he has a very good understanding of that dynamic. As much as I hated watching Crawford play I do think he was very good for the locker room. Oubre's fun and swaggy style along with his effort was such a breath of fresh air compared to Ariza and Johnson brought toughness and work ethic you need around young guys.

Now culture only goes so far and the real test will be how Jones does with player evaluations and ability to upgrade the talent while still keeping the culture right. That's not easy but I'm willing to give him a chance. McD had ZERO understanding of cultural fit or roster balance.

Ryan had so much "capital" in terms of improving the roster - and I get it takes two to tango with respect to trades - but draft picks after knowing they were picking Ayton, some expiring contracts in Chandler, Dudley and Daniels, not great cap space but 15m is 15m - and to come away with a stretch 4 to trade a stretch 4, another wing, more rookies... smh I will admit I bought the Ariza talk but was hoping actually


But James has brought in Tyler - who is better than I thought. Oubre is getting better plus his swag, style as you point out. I will be hopeful again this offseason (especially if no Kidd, no Rozier)

Jones, Bower, Bukstein - lets see what they have!

[bwgood77]

Zion/Kyrie or Ja/KD this offseason or we riot.

That's just an unrealistic expectation. For one the suns don't have the cap space for a max guy and where they fall in the lotto isn't something a GM can control. Plus even if they had max cap room it's not like KD or Kyrie would want to come here.

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He HAS to be joking. It's the second time he's written that.

[Kerrsed]

Guys, just remember, James Jones doesnt get the credit for Oubre. That wasnt the trade he made. We ended up taking Oubre because of the clusterf**k situation that happened involving GM's not knowing which Brooks was which. We lucked into getting Oubre, because Washington had to move him as they pretty much traded him and couldnt deal with him coming back and being disgruntled for that.

What James Jones did for the entire season:
-Attempted to trade Ariza for Rivers/Brooks/Seldon
-Traded Anderson for Johnson/Ellington

-Waived Canaan/Rivers/Ellington

-Signed Evans/Jimmer

[Kerrsed]

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[BobbieL]

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my take:
Buk and Bowers will do the dirty work - with Jones learning
Jones will talk to the cameras, and continue to be a bridge with the players and Front Office
representing the Phoenix Suns


fine by me

[BobbieL]

Guys, just remember, James Jones doesnt get the credit for Oubre. That wasnt the trade he made. We ended up taking Oubre because of the clusterf**k situation that happened involving GM's not knowing which Brooks was which. We lucked into getting Oubre, because Washington had to move him as they pretty much traded him and couldnt deal with him coming back and being disgruntled for that.

What James Jones did for the entire season:
-Attempted to trade Ariza for Rivers/Brooks/Seldon
-Traded Anderson for Johnson/Ellington

-Waived Canaan/Rivers/Ellington

-Signed Evans/Jimmer

Ellington was free - just helped the Heat
Fine about the ARiza Oubre thing
Jimmer - yawn

Johnson for Anderson - big win

[WeekapaugGroove]

Guys, just remember, James Jones doesnt get the credit for Oubre. That wasnt the trade he made. We ended up taking Oubre because of the clusterf**k situation that happened involving GM's not knowing which Brooks was which. We lucked into getting Oubre, because Washington had to move him as they pretty much traded him and couldnt deal with him coming back and being disgruntled for that.

What James Jones did for the entire season:
-Attempted to trade Ariza for Rivers/Brooks/Seldon
-Traded Anderson for Johnson/Ellington

-Waived Canaan/Rivers/Ellington

-Signed Evans/Jimmer

Dillon Brooks is a promising young player on a very cheap contract that would have given them more cap space this summer. Now he did get hurt shortly after this trade fell through but I can't at all fault the Suns for wanting him.

Small note too Ellington had a no trade clause by being and 'early bird FA' designated guy. The only way he agreed to be in that deal was to be immediately waived so he could go to a contender.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Guys, just remember, James Jones doesnt get the credit for Oubre. That wasnt the trade he made. We ended up taking Oubre because of the clusterf**k situation that happened involving GM's not knowing which Brooks was which. We lucked into getting Oubre, because Washington had to move him as they pretty much traded him and couldnt deal with him coming back and being disgruntled for that.

IDK. The Brooks debacle a weird story. I don't believe the public reporting ever reached a true consensus as to what happened. All we know is WAS got hosed. James Jones said that Oubre was who we wanted the whole time, but we didn't want to give up a SRP. Lucky, maybe, but Oubre certainly turned out to be a pretty smart target.

[bwgood77]

Guys, just remember, James Jones doesnt get the credit for Oubre. That wasnt the trade he made. We ended up taking Oubre because of the clusterf**k situation that happened involving GM's not knowing which Brooks was which. We lucked into getting Oubre, because Washington had to move him as they pretty much traded him and couldnt deal with him coming back and being disgruntled for that.

What James Jones did for the entire season:
-Attempted to trade Ariza for Rivers/Brooks/Seldon
-Traded Anderson for Johnson/Ellington

-Waived Canaan/Rivers/Ellington

-Signed Evans/Jimmer

Dillon Brooks is a promising young player on a very cheap contract that would have given them more cap space this summer. Now he did get hurt shortly after this trade fell through but I can't at all fault the Suns for wanting him.

Small note too Ellington had a no trade clause by being and 'early bird FA' designated guy. The only way he agreed to be in that deal was to be immediately waived so he could go to a contender.

It would have been a good trade had we gotten Brooks. But I also think Jones still deserves some credit to going back to the board after it fell through and dealing straight with the Wizards, convincing them to take less than they otherwise would have gotten for Oubre.