The first step in the Phoenix Suns‘ offseason was always going to be reorganizing the front office, and on Thursday morning, those changes were officially announced: Brian Gregory is the team’s new general manager, while former GM and president of basketball ops James Jones will transition into the role of senior advisor.
In addition to those changes, the Suns also announced that Oronde Taliaferro will become the team’s new assistant GM, while chief innovation officer Paul Rivers will now add basketball operations responsibilities to his duties.
“Brian has been a valuable member of our front office, playing an integral role in drafting and developing our young players,” owner Mat Ishbia said via press release. “I am excited for him to step in to the role of general manager. He is a brilliant basketball mind, and he will transform and elevate our team.”
The question is, what can Suns fans expect from their new, relatively unknown GM and the front office shifts that come with this hiring? Let’s take a look at Brian Gregory, James Jones’ new role, Oronde Taliaferro and Paul Rivers, with a few inside tidbits from a Suns source who spoke with PHNX Sports.
What Suns fans should know about Brian Gregory
During exit interviews, owner Mat Ishbia acknowledged Phoenix’s embarrassing season, took accountability for it, and pledged that “changes are coming.”
By and large, Suns fans were perplexed, disgruntled and highly skeptical when the biggest front office change — the hiring of a new general manager — turned out to be an internal hire who shared a direct Michigan State connection with Ishbia.
When the Suns owner spoke about setting a new identity for the organization moving forward, he mentioned grit, determination, work ethic, grind and joy as the qualities he wanted his front office, coaches and players to embody. Unbeknownst to everyone outside the organization, he may have inadvertently telegraphed the Sparty connection that was coming next.
“I will do a better job as the owner of setting the tone on the vision,” Ishbia said. “Just like there’s other organizations, you can talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers, you kind of know what they mean when you talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Or even my old team, Michigan State basketball, you kind of know what you’re gonna get when you talk about Michigan State basketball. What is Phoenix Suns basketball? And so that’s on me. That’s a change that’s coming, and it will be undeniable. You will know the difference next year.”
As we predicted last week, Jones and Josh Bartelstein will remain with the Suns in altered or lesser roles. Between that, and all three of Gregory, Taliaferro and Rivers being internal hires or promotions, those who were expecting radical, sweeping changes or looking for external, high-profile additions like Bob Myers were likely disappointed (and must’ve missed our Myers prediction).
But none of this addresses the main concern with the Brian Gregory hire: Does he have the requisite experience or skill-set to manage this position? Especially in such a crucial offseason where the Suns will have to weigh Kevin Durant trade options, try to trade Bradley Beal or waive-and-stretch his contract in a buyout, and hire a new head coach to replace Mike Budenholzer?
Gregory has an extensive coaching background in basketball, but his resume is somewhat lacking for the position of “NBA GM.” He obviously has the Michigan State connection as an assistant there under Tom Izzo for two separate stints. One of those coincided with Ishbia’s time with the Spartans, when the two won an NCAA championship and reached three Final Fours together. Gregory also worked as an assistant at Toledo and Northwestern University, and after his second stint with the Spartans, he became the men’s head coach at Dayton.
In eight seasons with the Flyers, Brian Gregory compiled a 172-94 record, but the furthest he ever got in the NCAA Tournament was a Round of 32 appearance. He then spent five years as head coach of Georgia Tech, followed by South Florida. His record was sub-.500 in both spots, giving him a career head coaching record of 327-287 at the college level.
After he was fired at USF in 2023, Gregory joined the Suns front office in a consultant role, where one source said he regularly attended practices and bounced ideas off coach Frank Vogel. In June of 2024, he was officially hired as vice president of player programming, where he oversaw player personnel and scouting. According to the team’s press release, he was “instrumental” in the selections of Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro in the 2024 NBA Draft.
But even with all of that, and 19 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, Gregory’s NBA experience on the front office side has been limited to two years with the Suns, which is why the concerns over the Michigan State connection — and the apparent lack of an extensive GM search — are pervading.
According to a source, there were 5-10 people connected to the role of Suns general manager, both formally and informally, and they included internal and external candidates. However, Gregory was seen as the “obvious choice,” mainly for his leadership qualities. Those qualities have been in short supply in Phoenix over the last few years, and while the Suns value James Jones’ eye for talent and perspective as a former player, they wanted a new voice on the leadership front.
In addition to that, Gregory being credited with the drafting of Dunn and Ighodaro — two solid prospects taken at No. 28 and No. 40 in the draft — speaks to the Suns’ shifting outlook. Mat Ishbia and the Suns refuse to undergo a rebuild, but with Durant and Beal both potentially gone this summer, Phoenix is hoping to get younger in retooling around Devin Booker while still fully expecting to return to the playoffs next year.
So whether it’s accruing additional draft picks to select rookies, targeting younger players in trades, unearthing undrafted players who can contribute, or continuing to develop youngsters like Dunn and Ighodaro, the Suns believe the combination of Brian Gregory, Oronde Taliaferro, Paul Rivers and a younger, hungrier coach can help on all those fronts.
As is always the case with a high-profile job like this, the proof will be in the pudding. Until Brian Gregory starts making moves for the fanbase to judge him by, the perception that Ishbia is an overly involved owner who hired a Michigan State “yes man” as his GM will persist. If Gregory succeeds in this NBA executive role, no one will care about his past coaching history, his limited experience or his long-running connections to Sparty. If he fails, it’s all anyone will talk about, and those concerns will prove to be well-founded.
The first move that Gregory will be judged by is the hiring of a new head coach. That search has officially began in earnest now that the Suns have a GM, and according to a source, they’ll be interviewing around 10-15 candidates before narrowing the field down.
This wide-ranging search, however, is expected to favor a younger, or even a first-time head coaching candidate. The Suns are searching for new blood whose values align with the identity they’re trying to establish. That means that “retreads,” recently available coaches like Mike Brown, or potentially soon-to-be available coaches like Doc Rivers won’t draw consideration in Phoenix.
What’s next for James Jones and Josh Bartelstein after Brian Gregory hire?
Jones’ new role of “senior advisor” is intentionally vague, but according to source who spoke with PHNX Sports, it sounds like it’ll be a lesser role from more of a distance. However, the Suns still value his input, which is why they’re reassigning him to a different role rather than firing him outright or letting his contract expire.
According to the press release, Jones will “remain involved with front office decisions, including advising and working closely with Gregory on team and personnel decisions” in his new role. Jones alluded to a potential role shift during exit interviews as well.
“When it comes to basketball, that’s me, that’s my area of focus. I own that, I stand by that,” Jones said. “And my job is to make sure we continue to improve, we change in the right ways. And if that means changing roles, if that means changing responsibilities, from year to year those things change, from moment to moment. But ultimately, whatever’s best for the team is what we do.”
Jones first joined the Suns in 2017 as the VP of basketball ops before being promoted to general manager in 2019. After winning the league’s Executive of the Year award in 2021, he added president of basketball ops to his list of titles in 2022.
“James’ contributions have been instrumental to our organization, and we appreciate everything he has done for the Suns on and off the court,” Ishbia said in the press release. “We are grateful to continue to have his experience and insight.”
As for Josh Bartelstein, his duties as CEO often crossed over into the basketball ops side of things as a collaborator with James Jones. Moving forward, while he’ll still likely have some level of input, it’s expected that his role will be focused more on the business side of things for the Suns.
Oronde Taliaferro and Paul Rivers’ background
Oronde Taliaferro’s promotion was part of the Suns’ new GM announcement, assuming the role of assistant GM under Brian Gregory. For those unfamiliar, Taliaferro served as Phoenix’s director of scouting last season. He has extensive experience in both player personnel and college player evaluation, holding scouting roles for 15 years with the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons.
Before he joined the Pistons, Taliaferro was an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma, the University of Arkansas and Kent State University.
As for Rivers, who’s been the Suns’ chief innovation officer since 2023, he’ll now take on “an elevated role leading strategy and innovation across business and basketball operations.” He has over 25 years of experience as a sports executive, including working directly under Sam Presti for 9-10 years in various leadership roles with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Couple their experience on the scouting and player development side with Brian Gregory being credited for helping select Dunn and Ighodaro in the draft, and it’s reasonable to question whether Phoenix is finally putting more of an emphasis on the draft or accruing draft picks.
While the Suns — once again — do not intend to trade Kevin Durant for a pick-heavy package to undergo a rebuild, they do seem to be cognizant of the need to get younger around Booker, hit on the late first-round picks they’ll likely to have for the foreseeable future, and restock their draft cupboard if possible.
Time will tell whether these hires and internal promotions pan out, especially in an offseason that’s crucial in trying to put Phoenix back on the path to contention.
