Are the Phoenix Suns making another internal mistake?

The Phoenix Suns decided to keep it in house with their front office “changes”.

Is this just another mistake? Or is avoiding making a “splash” and going for front office stability exactly what the Phoenix Suns need?

Let me start with this as a disclaimer.

We should all be giving Brian Gregory a fair shot at doing his job and giving him a clean slate. I wish him nothing but success, and hope we look back and laugh at this piece a few years from now.

That being said, we are allowed to be critical of this front office and ownership that has led us to two of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history relative to expectations.

Let’s be real here for a minute and zoom out. Going with an in-house candidate (with zero known momentum as a potential GM around the league) is insanity. Right?

Staying internal after how these past two seasons have gone seems crazy to me on the surface. He doesn’t have the track record that lines up with keeping this hire internal, especially with how things have gone of late.

I’m all for rewarding your own people. He was part of drafting Dunn and Oso? Great.

I’m not exactly sold on the rest of his track record in relation to bringing on a head coach and making the right moves to turn this mess around. These are tough shoes to wear, especially without GM experience.

Is this just another Michigan State “buddy” connection in order to surround him (Ishbia) with his hand-picked guys? That’s what it feels like. He was an assistant coach at Michigan State University when owner Mat Ishbia played there.

Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Who is Brian Gregory?

Gregory has been with the Suns since being hired last June and played a key role in the team selecting Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro in the 2024 NBA Draft.

In eight seasons with the Flyers, Brian Gregory went 172-94. The furthest he ever got in the NCAA Tournament was a Round of 32 appearance.

After Dayton, Gregory spent five seasons as head coach of Georgia Tech, followed by South Florida, where he was dismissed. His record was sub-.500 in both spots. Gregory finished with a career head coaching record of 327-287 in college before joining the Suns’ front office.

Not a whole bunch of NBA experience on his resume, but plenty of basketball experience in his career. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher.

Dan Wolken of USA Today had this to say about the hiring of Gregory.

Mark Giannotto (also of USA Today) added: “Brian Gregory won 1 NCAA tournament game in 8 years at Dayton, then couldn’t cut it at Georgia Tech, then couldn’t cut it at South Florida, and now he’ll be running an NBA front office.”

John Hollinger added that many, many minds are blown around NBA circles.

Gregory will lead the search for the next head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

Gambo reports that he will start reaching out to agents, and the search could go as deep as 14-15 candidates during this initial contact phase.

A younger, first-time NBA head coach? Chris Quinn or Royal Ivey, anyone? Sign me up.

Either way, this is a results-driven league. If Gregory does well, he (and Ishbia) deserve their flowers. If he does not? The Suns dig themselves in a deeper hole, and we embrace more change, failure, and chaos in the years to come.

I don’t care about winning a press conference or scoring a solid “hiring grade”.

How will he do? Only time will tell.

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