Recently, ESPN released a top 10 ranking of the management ahead of the 2021-2022 season in the NBA and Phoenix Suns’ 2021 reigning executive of the year James Jones is nowhere to be found.
The Phoenix Suns went from the bottom of the Western Conference to one game away from the playoffs to Western Conference champions. Every player on the finals roster minus Devin Booker was acquired by the Suns in the Jones era.
Taking the already hot “Bubble Suns,” and adding Chris Paul was the move that ultimately pushed Phoenix from playoff hopefuls to title contenders. The move was met with a positive reaction with Paul coming off of a revitalized All-Star season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Paul was able to take a Thunder team that had a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs to the five seed in the Western Conference.
ESPN’s list is as follows: 1. Miami Heat 2. Toronto Raptors 3. Milwaukee Bucks 4. Denver Nuggets 5. Oklahoma City Thunder 6. Los Angeles Lakers 7. Los Angeles Clippers 8. Brooklyn Nets 9. Golden State Warriors 10. Utah Jazz
Aside from the Suns snub there are numerous missteps in this list.
The Heat just mortgaged their entire cap space to keep forward Jimmy Butler in Miami. Butler signed a $184 million deal over four years. The 34-year old will make $37 million in the last year of his contract. While Butler will have a few more productive years, the amount could have been more team-friendly to the cap.
All of the Raptors’ recent success comes from one unhappy superstar in Kawhi Leonard. Without him choosing to go to the Raptors, they would continue their trajectory of mediocrity in the playoffs. Now they are a team poised to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
The Bucks, Nuggets and the Thunder are all worthy of their spots on ESPN’s misplaced list. What those teams are doing well is building from the ground up and developing their players.
The Lakers just signed one of the best players in history as a free agent who partially went to extend his reach in the business world and traded their whole young core for another unhappy superstar in order to win a title. Any team that had those kinds of assets would have done the same. Now they’ve signed multiple veterans and are looking to reclaim the championship.
The crosstown rival Clippers aren’t in a much better situation. L.A. put all its eggs into Kawhi Leonard’s basket and traded away their entire future for Paul George resulting in a blown 3-1 Western Conference semifinals lead and a conference finals exit. Leonard is now hurt for an extended period of time. The Clippers’ near future doesn’t look promising.
The Nets, Warriors and Jazz also deserve their spots on the list. The roster construction is great all around and are likely to be playoff teams for the next few years.
Now onto the Suns. Phoenix deserves not only a spot on the list but they deserve the third spot on the best management in the NBA. The two teams above them are the reigning NBA champion Bucks and the team with the best odds to win the championship, the Nets.
The Suns deserve the third spot for their rising draft stars and trade for Chris Paul. Drafting Deandre Ayton was the obvious number one choice at the time in the 2018 NBA Draft but has only been met with criticism because of the superstar level the players taken after him have reached. Ayton has always been good for Phoenix, but never great. In the playoffs, he showed off his potential making jump shots and defending opposing bigs.
Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson have been great young draft players for Phoenix as well. They provide potential on both ends of the floor with an upside to score. Another great pick up for Phoenix has been Cameron Payne. To pick up a sixth man for a Western Conference Finals team for nothing is extremely rare.
Hiring Monty Williams as head coach was an excellent pick up on top of all that. His leadership and motivational skills are up there with the best in the NBA. He has the ability to draw up plays and get the best out of his bench and role players. In Williams’ second season, he won the NBCA Coach of the Year and finished second for NBA Coach of the Year.
Jones wouldn’t get his honors without the trade for Chris Paul. He took a risk by dealing Kelly Oubre Jr. after coming off of his best season, a solid veteran in Ricky Rubio, some young players and a first-round pick for the older Paul.
Safe to say it’s paid off.
Paul is one of the best leaders in basketball and his leadership was crucial in extracting the potential in all the young players and putting it on display. He brought a new winning culture to the Suns. It’s no surprise that wherever Paul goes, winning follows with him.
Aside from his intangibles, he was a reliable player on offense to lighten the load for Booker. When it comes to passing, most consider Paul to be one of the best in the NBA and with a new, young and athletic center in Ayton, his passing game perfectly compliments Ayton’s ability in and around the paint. Feeding Ayton was key in the Suns’ run to the second seed and eventually the Finals.
Between the fruitful drafts and successful trade, it’s very shocking to see Jones not even mentioned in the top 10 in the NBA.
Have you ever seen an NBA MVP not make an All-NBA team? Yeah, me neither.
