2. Robert Sarver has grown up – we think
Along with running Valley of the Suns, I do a little thing called This Day in Arizona Sports History on social media.
In my research for This Day, I have re-read a number of articles in the recent past that have had quotes from or about Robert Sarver that state time and again how he is “very competitive.”
I dig it. I too am very competitive.
But competitive doesn’t mean knowledgeable. Competitive doesn’t make one a winner. Heck, Captain America was hyper-competitive yet didn’t win until he had a super soldier serum injected into his body which suddenly gave him the physical attributes to match his competitiveness.
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As owner, Sarver has made numerous mistakes that have not only potentially stolen multiple championship away from the franchise (*ahem* Joe Johnson), but allowed a number of mistakes to occur as well with misguided hirings (*ahem* Lance Blanks and Lon Babby).
Yet, James Jones appears (on paper) to be a very good hire.
A former player, well-respected, who knows personally all of the major players in the league and is liked/trusted by them all, Jones should have not only the connections to swing major free agency signings that other GM’s might have had difficulty doing, but he also won a lot in his playing career and intimately knows exactly how a team should be constructed (or not constructed) from the top down.
The hiring of Jones led to the eventual hiring of Monty Williams, another former player who is very well respected around the league.
So well respected that apparently the Los Angeles Lakers believed that they not only would have Monty Williams in the bag for themselves, but were shocked that he chose Phoenix.
Most importantly though, Sarver allowed for Jones to fire a head coach after one season, making him the fifth head coach in four calendar years.
If Sarver has learned on the job and is now placing the right basketball people in the organizations to make the important decisions, allowing them to make expensive decisions, and ultimately staying out of the way of the decision-making process, then Sarver really has grown up as an owner.
That said, the Phoenix Suns will need a little bit more than just smart people in place.