Suns Explain Hiring of New GM

Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia promised changes were coming at his end-of-season press conference April 17 after the Suns finished the 2024-25 season 36-46 and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

Before this press conference even took place, the Suns had already let go of first-year coach Mike Budenholzer.

The next step was front office changes, and Phoenix made those Thursday. Rather than looking externally, all of the moves came internally.

Most notably, Phoenix promoted Brian Gregory from vice president of player programming to general manager. Here is what Ishbia had to say about the hire in a press release:

“Brian has been a valuable member of our front office, playing an integral role in drafting and developing our young players. I am excited for him to step in to the role of general manager. He is a brilliant basketball mind, and he will transform and elevate our team.”

Gregory, 58, had no prior front office experience before being hired by the Suns in 2023, but according to the press release, "he oversaw player personnel and scouting and was instrumental in selecting Suns rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro."

Before the Suns, Gregory spent 19 years as a head coach in Division I men's basketball for the University of South Florida (2017-23), Georgia Tech (2011-16) and at the University of Dayton (2003-11).

Prior to being a head coach, Gregory was an assistant at Michigan State from 1999-2003, overlapping with when Ishbia was a walk-on there. MSU won the national championship in 2000 during their time with the Spartans.

Former GM James Jones will move from his current role into the role of senior advisor, where he will "will remain involved with front office decisions, including advising and working closely with Gregory on team and personnel decisions."

“James’ contributions have been instrumental to our organization, and we appreciate everything he has done for the Suns on and off the court,” Ishbia said. “We are grateful to continue to have his experience and insight.”

In addition to these moves, Oronde Taliaferro was promoted from head of amateur evaluation to assistant general manager and Paul Rivers is adding basketball operations responsibilities to his role as Chief Innovation Officer.

According to Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro on X, "Josh Bartelstein will remain CEO of the Suns. Brian Gregory will report directly to owner Matt Ishbia."

Ishbia made it a point in his press conference on April 17 that he wanted to establish a new identity for the team moving forward, and that new identity for the front office has supposedly been found internally.

Now, Gregory will be tasked with finding a new coach and building a new roster centered around this identity, which Ishbia described as "an identity that's similar to Phoenix with a little bit of grit, some determination, some work ethic, some grind, some joy."

This will likely be an offseason with the most changes in Suns history, highlighted by the uncertain futures of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal in Phoenix.

Despite very limited front office experience, Gregory is now the man in charge of making these tough decisions.