The “Interim” tag for Jones in the desert has been dropped.
Most know James Jones for his time as a player on teams that LeBron James played on. His fourteen year career took him from the Pacers and the Suns to the Heat and the Cavs.
Over the last two seasons, Jones has been with the Suns as their VP of Basketball Operations, eventually being given the “interim GM” tag. Today, the team announced that they had removed the “interim” status from his title and officially named him their GM, overseeing team operations for the Suns.
“James has demonstrated a remarkable ability to manage the day-to-day efforts of our front office while developing strong relationships with our players, coaches and those across our organization and league,” said Suns managing partner Robert Sarver. “Furthermore, he is instilling the same championship culture and standard that he experienced on multiple occasions as a player. I have the utmost confidence in James as the leader of our basketball operations moving forward, and we are aligned in the ultimate goal of one day bringing an NBA championship to Phoenix.”
Trevor Bukstein, who shared general manager duties with Jones, will remain with the team as the assistant GM. The team also added Jeff Bower as senior vice president of basketball operations.
“I’m thrilled to add an individual with Jeff’s experience and basketball acumen to our front office,” said Jones. “Jeff brings a wealth of knowledge in every facet of basketball operations, is of high character and well respected in league circles, and has a proven track record of influencing organizational success. His expertise in creating and executing a plan will be invaluable as we build our team moving forward.”
Jones was a three-time NBA champion (2012 and 2013 with the Heat, 2016 with the Cavs) and spent many years with the NBA Players Association, most as the executive committee’s secretary-treasurer. He’s also a member of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame, where he played his college ball and earned a degree in finance.
