James Jones has done well for the Phoenix Suns as GM

James Jones just can’t seem to stay out of the way of the jokes that come with his moves as a GM. Maybe that’s how he likes it but either way it is hard to say Jones has not done fairly well in his first five months as the Phoenix Suns GM.

Unsurprisingly to most, the trade deadline has come and gone without the Phoenix Suns making a major trade. With that in the rear view mirror, James Jones has wrapped up the most meaningful stage of his young executive career.

Although it is fair to criticize him for not getting a point guard, it was not a problem that he created, or given a fair shot in the offseason to address. One problem with that is, during this extra active trade deadline who was the best point guard traded, even if Tyler Johnson is not a true point guard, who were they going to get that is better than him?

The obvious answer is Markelle Fultz, who the Suns should have been in on, but getting Fultz does not just fix the position immediately like other options people want the Suns to go after.

The other top point guard moved was Delon Wright of the Raptors. After that you might get to Milos Teodosic who was waived and could still wind up on the Phoenix Suns.

In the meantime just looking at what Jones did do, it is hard to argue that the Suns lose the trade deadline. Phoenix essentially paid $4 million extra to have Tyler Johnson over Ryan Anderson, which should be a good deal. Some might take issue with the release of Wayne Ellington and not successfully trading him, which is a mistake Jones has made before and is fair criticism.

My theory on this is that the Heat were desperate to lessen their luxury tax bill as much as possible, which is obvious. Therefore they would not do this trade unless the Suns took on Ellington’s contract for this season. The tricky part is Ellington had a no-trade clause, and on the surface there is no reason he would waive it unless the Suns had already agreed to release him before the trade went through.

So far this season Jones has turned disgruntled Trevor Ariza and designated handshake guy Ryan Anderson into Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tyler Johnson, both players who played over 20 minutes a game for competitive teams.

These moves did cost the Suns a little bit of cap flexibility for the upcoming summer but after seeing that New York, Brooklyn, and both Los Angeles teams will have max contract spots this summer it is fine to bow out of that chase.

So, although Jones has not fixed any of the rosters major needs, he has managed to create a younger and yet still more competitive and roster without cashing in any major assets.

If his tenure as GM is short, the legacy of Jones as an executive will be defined by what he does this offseason or whenever he uses up the young players, draft picks, or cap space available to him.

With the moves he has made thus far though, Jones should have given fans hope that he will continue to do well on critical decisions in the future.