On the day the Phoenix Suns played their first Western Conference finals game in more than a decade, James Jones, the team’s general manager, was named the league’s Manager of the Year.
Jones, who took over as the Suns’ athletic director in 2018, was a member of the group that built the team’s foundations in Phoenix, which broke in this year after not going to Playofs the entire past decade. The Suns finished the current season with the second-best record in the NBA and eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets in the postseason.
Since taking control at Phoenix, Jones has made a number of moves to put the team where it is now, starting with hiring Monty Williams as a coach before last season. Later, Jones beat several teams to take in free agency Jae crowder, which gave Phoenix the piece he needed next to the stars Mikal bridges Y Deandre ayton at the front of the lineup, along with the biggest change from the offseason to acquire Chris paul and give the young Suns on the court and the franchise the leadership it needed.
In a close vote among league officials, Jones garnered nine first-place votes and 65 points overall to narrowly outstrip Utah Jazz vice president of sport Dennis Lindsey, who also had nine first-place votes but finished. with 61 points.
Sean Marks, general manager of the Brooklyn Nets finished in third place with five votes for first place and 51 points total, while several managers, including Leon Rose (Knicks), Tim Connelly (Nuggets), Travis Schlenk (Hawks), Mitch Kupchak (Hornets), Sam Presti (Thunder) and Neil Olshey (Blazers) each received one vote for first place.
The NBA wrapped up its offseason awards show last week after awarding six individual honors: Most Valuable Player (Nuggets center Nikola Jocic), Defender of the Year (Jazz center Rudy gobert), Sixth Man of the Year (to Jazz guard Jordan clarkson), Rookie of the Year (Hornets guard LaMelo Ball), Most Improved Player (Knicks forward Julius Randle) and Coach of the Year (to Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau), as well as the All-NBA, Rookie and Defensive team designations.