The James Jones era has officially come to a close.
The Phoenix Suns have reshaped their front office, reassigning James Jones, who has served as the team’s president of basketball operations and general manager since 2019. Brian Gregory will now step into the general manager role, reporting directly to Mat Ishbia, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.
Josh Bartelstein will remain CEO of the Suns. Brian Gregory will report directly to owner Matt Ishbia.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) May 1, 2025
A ‘senior advisor’ is the new role for James Jones, eh? Perhaps this is the consolation for being a “yes man”, someone who did the bidding of his new owner. While we have been led to believe that Mat Ishbia is not responsible for the player personnel transactions of the team, history has shown us that the decisions made pre-Ishbia and post-Ishbia were very different.
Jones, who played for the Suns from 2005 to 2007, began his executive career with the franchise in 2017 as director of player personnel. A year later, he was promoted to interim general manager alongside assistant GM Trevor Bukstein following the firing of Ryan McDonough.
That transition came just ahead of the 2018 NBA Draft, the first time in franchise history Phoenix held the No. 1 overall pick. The Suns selected Deandre Ayton and later acquired Mikal Bridges. Jones also orchestrated the trade that sent the fading Trevor Ariza out of town, bringing in Kelly Oubre Jr. in return.
After the 2018-19 season, Jones was officially given full control as general manager of the Suns. He wasted little time reshaping the organization, firing head coach Igor Kokoskov and hiring Monty Williams as his replacement. Jones also traded T.J. Warren to the Pacers for cash considerations and flipped the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft for Dario Saric and the No. 11 pick, which became Cameron Johnson. He added veteran point guard Ricky Rubio in free agency, helping stabilize the backcourt.
While the season didn’t result in a winning record, it was the first time in years the team showed signs of a cohesive vision, capped by a perfect 8-0 run in the Orlando Bubble.
Prior to the 2020-21 season, Jones pulled off his most impactful move yet by trading for future Hall of Famer Chris Paul, while also signing Jae Crowder in free agency to bolster the roster. In the 2020 NBA Draft, he surprised many by passing on promising guards like Tyrese Haliburton, selecting Jalen Smith with the 10th overall pick instead. Despite that miss, the team Jones assembled flourished.
The Suns won 51 games and made their third trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history, ultimately falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. For his efforts, Jones was named the 2020-21 NBA Executive of the Year.
Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images
The following season, with the core still intact, the Suns set a franchise record with 64 wins and looked poised for another deep playoff run. However, their promising campaign ended in disappointment with a seven-game second-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
The summer of 2022 brought further turbulence, as allegations of workplace misconduct against team owner Robert Sarver led to his suspension and eventual sale of the team. Amid the chaos, Jae Crowder opted out of training camp and never played for the Suns again. In November 2022, Jones was promoted to president of basketball operations while retaining his role as general manager.
In February 2023, the franchise was officially sold to Mat Ishbia, who wasted no time making a splash. Just days into his tenure, the Suns made a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant, sending out a haul of players and future draft capital.
While James Jones had reportedly been in discussions with the Brooklyn Nets for Durant the previous summer, it remains unclear who truly pulled the trigger on the deal. Was it Jones executing a long-laid plan, or Ishbia asserting his authority with a bold move? The answer may never be fully known.
“I took this job a few years ago,” Jones stated in the introductory press conference for KD, “Determined to try to build a team built for championships. And I think we’ve reached the point where we’ve been able to add arguably one of the greatest players to ever play this sport. It’s taken a lot of hard work, a lot of determination, a lot of commitment from the fans and everyone inside and outside this building. But I stand here today proud and happy to introduce No. 35 for the Phoenix Suns, Kevin Durant.”
The Suns went 8-0 with Kevin Durant during the regular season, offering a glimmer of hope heading into the playoffs. But that momentum didn’t last. They were bounced by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets in six games in the second round. Despite a 309-114 record over four seasons, head coach Monty Williams was fired that summer.
In his place, Frank Vogel was brought in to lead a core of Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Deandre Ayton. But that vision unraveled before he had a chance to coach them. Chris Paul and Landry Shamet were shipped to Washington in a blockbuster trade for Bradley Beal, costing the team what little draft capital it had left. Shortly after, Ayton was sent to Portland in a deal that brought back minimal return. Assets that, in hindsight, amounted to little more than spare parts.
The Suns stumbled through a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, finishing as the sixth seed in the Western Conference before being unceremoniously swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. Frank Vogel was shown the door after just one season at the helm.
The summer of 2024 ushered in Mike Budenholzer as head coach, a flurry of roster moves, and some clever draft-day maneuvering that netted the team Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
The Suns started the 2024-25 season 8-1, sparking cautious optimism. But that hope quickly unraveled. What initially appeared to be a deep and talented roster proved instead to be a disjointed collection of individuals lacking chemistry and cohesion. The slow-motion collapse continued until the team failed to even qualify for the Play-In Tournament.
As a result, James Jones has been reassigned to a senior advisor role, while Brian Gregory, who once served as an assistant coach at Michigan State when Mat Ishbia was a player, has officially taken over general manager duties. It’s not a clean break from Jones, perhaps because he hasn’t been solely responsible for the organization’s recent missteps. He’s been a cog in a much larger machine.
It’s not uncommon to see new ownership gradually install their own people. In fact, the surprising part is how long Jones remained in power. That speaks to how much Ishbia valued him, at least for a time. Typically, new owners clean house, bringing in those with personal connections, old college coaches, trusted confidants, and familiar faces.
Time will tell what this senior advisor role actually means, but the fact that Gregory will report directly to Ishbia signals a clear pivot. A definitive change in direction, just as Ishbia promised. Now comes the real work: establishing an identity. One that will inevitably differ from the path Jones was charting, whether that path was his design or dictated from above.
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