James Jones departs as top Suns executive with a complicated legacy

Legacies can be complicated, especially for a 57-year-old basketball franchise still seeking its first NBA championship.

Consider the footprint of James Jones.

The former Suns general manager was once two victories away from immortality and a spot in the team’s ring of honor. Now, he is unceremoniously replaced by a man with very little experience and very few credentials.

The Suns came full circle under the stewardship of Jones, from the bottom to the top and all the way back down. They are once again an NBA punchline. No amount of alignment can change their current reputation.

Oh, but Jones nearly pulled off one of the greatest feats in the history of Arizona sports. He scored the hard-earned trust of tight-fisted Robert Sarver. He convinced a meddlesome owner to give a five-year contract and real money to Monty Williams, a proven head coach who comes in demanding guardrails, a guy who does not want the owner loitering in his office after games.

Jones made that happen. He was responsible for Mikal Bridges. He drafted Cam Johnson. He convinced Chris Paul to believe in the magic that transpired at Disney World during the nightmare of COVID-19. And in July 2021, his team held a 2-0 lead on the Bucks and Mike Budenholzer in the NBA Finals.

Jones nearly delivered a storybook championship with a heritage franchise and a homegrown team that went deep inside the community, uniting Arizona in ways I’ve rarely experienced. He was sooooo close to being a forever hero.

It’s also cruel that his biggest mistake is now playing a starring role in the NBA playoffs. Jones could’ve and should’ve taken the easy layup in 2020 and drafted Tyrese Haliburton. Even worse, everyone knew it in real time. The team had an aging, injury-prone point guard in Paul, and they needed to draft and mentor his successor. Jones took a wild swing on Jalen Smith, mostly because the Lakers had just won the bubble championship with Anthony Davis and LeBron James and Jones felt desperate for frontline defense. A tragic miss.

Others might say karma came for Jones in the end, as his elevation to GM of the Suns came after he played a role in the rug-pulling of Ryan McDonough. Back then, Sarver was growing impatient with his young GM. As part of a contract extension in 2017, he demanded that Jones be added to McDonough’s staff, even though they had no prior relationship. When Jones accompanied Sarver on an international trip to scout Luka Doncic before the 2018 NBA Draft – a trip that did not include the team’s actual GM – McDonough knew the end was near. It was confirmed on draft night, when McDonough had worked a deal for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jones objected, preferring to trade for Mikal Bridges. The owner sided with Jones. Game over.

To his credit, Jones nearly paid it off and pulled it off, almost threading the needle with a difficult and miserly owner. Jones always cast a striking figure, an executive who looked great in a suit. He was also something of a chameleon, able to bend and blend and adapt. He was always willing to take one for the team, to carry the broom and dustpan. Today, he is demoted in favor of Ishbia’s former position coach at Michigan State, who stealthily swooped in as a team consultant in 2023.

It’s a fierce and cutthroat business, and the Suns appear lost and flailing and scrambling for traction. It also appears that Jones deserved a better ending. We all do.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports.

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