Phoenix Suns vice president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones meets with the media at Suns media day ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Jones, the NBA Executive of the Year in 2021, is entering his sixth season as the Suns’ general manager with a lot of pressure to have a championship-level roster.
In the first year of having Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant on the roster last season, the trio only played in 41 games together, and Phoenix finished with a 49-33 regular-season record, good for the sixth seed in the Western Conference, but was swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Going into the offseason, the Suns preached a continuity approach and are bringing back their top-six rotation players in Booker, Beal, Durant, Jusuf Nurkić, Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale.
However, as with all teams, there was still a lot of news and moves surrounding the team in the offseason. These were some of the biggest storylines and moves:
- Mike Budenholzer was hired as head coach after Frank Vogel was fired after one season
- Suns make trades to get more picks during the draft, select Virginia F Ryan Dunn No. 28 overall, Marquette C Oso Ighodaro with the 40th pick. Baylor wing Jalen Bridges signs two-way deal after going undrafted
- Royce O’Neale (4 years, $42 million), Josh Okogie (2 years, $15 million) agreed to long-term extensions (Grayson Allen did as well in April – 4 years, $70 million)
- Bol Bol and Damion Lee re-sign on one-year, veteran-minimum deals
- Eric Gordon (76ers) and Drew Eubanks (Jazz) signed with other teams
- Veteran PG Monte Morris and veteran C Mason Plumlee agree to veteran-minimum contracts
- Late in free agency, Suns added new starting point guard Tyus Jones on a veteran-minimum contract
- Collin Gillespie and TyTy Washington agree to two-way contracts
- Devin Booker and Kevin Durant won gold medals with Team USA, each playing major roles
- David Roddy was traded away, Nassir Little was waived, opening up a roster spot (still open)
- The Suns’ G League team, the Valley Suns, begin their inaugural season this fall
With all of the moves and previous signings, the Suns now have the first payroll exceeding $400 million in NBA history after the luxury tax. Here is every player and how much they are owed this season (via capsheets.com)
So what did Jones think of the offseason? He discusses what course he wants the team to take this season, the pros and cons of adding point guards, Durant being due for an extension, having a 3-guard lineup, adding veterans in free agency, what makes this team a championship group, Bradley Beal’s role, putting up more 3-pointers, getting homegrown players into the organization with Ighodaro and Bridges and Kevin Durant’s strong run in the Olympics.
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
