Suns Officially Announce Massive Changes

The Phoenix Suns have made an expected front office move official today.

ESPN's Shams Charania first reported that Brian Gregory would be promoted to the general manager position just minutes prior to the official announcement from the franchise.

Directly from the team:

"The Phoenix Suns today announced changes to its front office. Brian Gregory has been named general manager and James Jones will transition to the role of senior advisor. Additionally, Oronde Taliaferro has been elevated to assistant general manager and Paul Rivers will add basketball operations responsibilities to his role as Chief Innovation Officer." 

The official statement also lauded Gregory's extensive experience in the basketball world despite a limited time in the professional game and operations department alike.

"Gregory first joined the front office in 2023, most recently serving as vice president of player programming. In his role, he oversaw player personnel and scouting and was instrumental in selecting Suns rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.

"Prior to the Suns, he served 19 seasons as an NCAA Division I men’s basketball head coach, most recently at the University of South Florida (2017-23) where he won the CBI Championship in 2019. Gregory served as head coach at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and at the University of Dayton (2003-11), where he won the NIT Championship in 2010.

"He was as an assistant coach under Tom Izzo at Michigan State University from 1999-03, helping the team to two Final Four berths and the 2000 NCAA Championship. He also worked as an assistant coach at the University of Toledo (1996-97) and Northwestern University (1997-99). Gregory is a graduate of Oakland University where he played basketball and was a three-year All-Conference honoree."

Jones will officially be demoted after six seasons of leading basketball operations - including an executive of the year award in 2021. It appears that Jones is still valued in the organization despite transitioning into a new role - at least according to Suns owner Mat Ishbia.

“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 in a statement.

"We are grateful to continue to have his experience and insight.”

Josh Bartelstein will also remain in his role as CEO of the franchise - while Gregory will be the primary figure that reports to Ishbia - per Arizona Sports insider John Gambadoro

The next step for the franchise is to begin an extensive search for the franchise's fourth coach in as many seasons following the front office changes.

After the head coach hire is made, many other difficult decisions loom - such as a potential Kevin Durant trade and exploring ways to offload Bradley Beal after two largely uneventful seasons in the Valley.