Phoenix Suns hire Matt Tellem, Brian Gregory to basketball operations staff

The Phoenix Suns on Monday announced the hirings of assistant general manager Matt Tellem and vice president of player programming Brian Gregory.

“We’re excited to add Matt and Brian to our basketball operations team,” Suns president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones said in a press release. “Matt’s insight and strategic thinking are highly regarded throughout the NBA and will elevate our team.

“Brian’s expansive coaching and development experience uniquely positions him to assist our coaches and players.”

Tellem, the son of Detroit Pistons chairman and former agent Arn Tellem, served as vice president of strategy for the Nets during the 2023-24 season and was the team’s senior director of salary cap and strategy in 2022-23.

He got his start with the organization as a basketball information coordinator with Brooklyn in 2011 and stayed in that role until the 2018-19 season.

From there, Tellem was promoted to assistant general manager of Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. He also served as the team’s director of strategic planning. He held those roles until his promotion to VP of strategy.

Gregory heads to the desert with 19 seasons as college basketball head coach, most recently with South Florida (2017-23). In 2019, his team won the CBI Championship. He also coached at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). The Flyers under Gregory took home the NIT Championship in 2010.

Gregory got his coaching start as an assistant at Michigan State (1990-95) before stops at Toledo (1996-97) and Northwestern (1997-99) before returning to the Spartans (1999-03). In his second stint with head coach Tom Izzo and MSU, the Spartans reached two Final Fours and won the 2000 NCAA Championship.

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