Phoenix Suns: Complete History of General Managers
The son of a Boston Globe columnist, and brother of Arizona Cardinals Vice President Terry McDonough, Ryan McDonough was named Phoenix Suns General Manager in May of 2013.
He had spent ten years with the Boston Celtics in their front office, and in his three seasons so far, the Suns have yet to make the playoffs, posting a 110-136 record.
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In McDonough’s first season as executive, the Suns had a 23-win improvement over the previous season. After the turn around in the 2013-2014 season, the team began to struggle.
McDonough signed and traded players left and right in order to improve the team. His spring of 2015 was one of the most controversial, with several 3-team trades that sent Shavik Randolph to the Celtics, the Dragic brothers to the Heat, Miles Plumlee to the Milwaukee Bucks, Isaiah Thomas to the Celtics, and the Suns receiving several picks and players like John Salmons, Marcus Thornton, and Brandon Knight.
In one of the most highly sought after trades by fans and the media, McDonough traded Markieff Morris seven months after he traded his twin brother, Marcus. Markieff was very vocal in his displeasure with the team, being fined by the league earlier in the year for publicly demanding a trade.
Prior to the Morris trade, Head Coach Jeff Hornacek was fired and soon Earl Watson was named interim. McDonough hired Watson at the end of the season, and the sky is the limit for the Phoenix Suns this season as they had one of the best draft classes in the NBA in 2016.
Each General Manager had their own unique role in building the culture of the Phoenix Suns. Many served two roles at once, and showed just have valuable they each were to the franchise.
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Who knows what the future holds for this team, but it will be exciting to see where Ryan McDonough and staff take the Suns this season.