Suns CEO's Heavy Influence Will Continue

Even after the promotion of Brian Gregory to general manager, Phoenix Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein will remain involved in basketball decisions, Gregory said in his introductory press conference Tuesday.

Former general manager James Jones was moved to a senior advisor role after Gregory's elevation from vice president of player programming to general manager, and it was speculated that Bartelstein's role could be changed to operating more on the business side after the move.

However, that will not be the case, as Gregory told the media.

"As the general manager, I am responsible and accountable for the daily decisions, day in and day out regarding basketball. Josh is our CEO," Gregory said.

"He's involved in every aspect of basketball operations, every single aspect of basketball operations. Josh and I have an unbelievable partnership. When you talk guys working together and getting things done, we're right there."

Both Gregory and Bartelstein have long-lasting relationships with Suns owner Mat Ishbia with all three having strong Michigan backgrounds. Gregory was an assistant coach for Michigan State from 1999-2003, overlapping with Ishbia's time as a walk-on with the Spartans, while Bartelstein was a walk-on at Michigan from 2009-13.

Bartelstein was originally hired as CEO of both the Suns and Mercury a month after Ishbia assumed ownership of the team in Feb. 2023 and has described his role as carrying out Ishbia's vision.

"I feel comfortable in my role, because I know what (Ishbia) wants to do (and) my job is to be every single day doing it, but we got to do better here, and we will," Bartelstein said in his end-of-season press conference on April 17.

Bartelstein, who spent eight years in the Detroit Pistons' front office prior to joining the Suns, was reportedly instrumental in facilitating the Suns' trade for Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards in June 2023, as well as the Suns trading away Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara to the Portland Trail Blazers in Sept. 2023, which notably netted Phoenix Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen.

He has also played a huge role in executing Ishbia's vision on the business side. From his bio on the team site:

"Bartelstein led the Suns to an industry-shifting media rights partnership to bring every Suns basketball game over-the-air and direct-to-consumer with Gray Television and Kiswe, which will reach nearly 2.8 million households in Arizona, ahead of the 2023-24 season. He later spearheaded an initiative to provide thousands of free antennas to Arizona residents, giving access to Suns games throughout the season, as well helping lead bids that landed both the 2026 NBA and 2024 WNBA All-Star Games in Phoenix.

"As part of Ishbia and Bartelstein’s foundational pillars of community impact, fan experience, team member culture and winning, the organization invested $100 million to develop a new team member campus and state-of-the-art practice facility for the Mercury, which officially opened on July 18, 2024. The 123,000-square-foot facility is located in downtown Phoenix and is one of the largest developments for a professional sport organization in the country."

The Suns have gone downhill ever since making the Finals in 2021, and following a 36-46 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time since 2020, Phoenix and Ishbia decided to do some reshuffling within the front office rather than look outside the team.

Now, the Suns will look to rely on similar players, including Bartelstein, in their basketball decisions moving forward.