Phoenix Suns Promote James Jones to Full-Time General Manager

Jones served as the team's interim general manager in 2018.

The Phoenix Suns have promoted James Jones to full-time general manager, the team announced on Thursday.

Jones served as an interim following the firing of Ryan McDonough two weeks before the 2018-19 season began. The former NBA player spent the last two seasons as the Suns' vice president of basketball operations and shared general manager duties with assistant Trevor Bukstein. Together, the two collaborated on trades which brought Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tyler Johnson to Phoenix.

"James has demonstrated a remarkable ability to manage the day-to-day efforts of our front office while developing strong relationships with our players, coaches and those across our organization and league,” Suns team owner Robert Sarver said. in a statement “Furthermore, he is instilling the same championship culture and standard that he experienced on multiple occasions as a player. I have the utmost confidence in James as the leader of our basketball operations moving forward, and we are aligned in the ultimate goal of one day bringing an NBA championship to Phoenix.”

The Suns also added Jeff Bower as senior vice president of basketball operations and retained Bukstein as assistant general manager. The two men will report to Jones.

“I’m thrilled to add an individual with Jeff’s experience and basketball acumen to our front office,” Jones said. “Jeff brings a wealth of knowledge in every facet of basketball operations, is of high character and well respected in league circles, and has a proven track record of influencing organizational success. His expertise in creating and executing a plan will be invaluable as we build our team moving forward.”

Bower previoulsy served as general manager in New Orleans and Detroit.