Suns Name James Jones VP of Basketball Operations, a Move All About LeBron in 2018

The headlines will scream that the Suns hired an inexperienced VP of Basketball Operations in James Jones, a retired basketball player who has never held a desk job. Jones bounced around the league, playing in Indiana, Phoenix, Portland, Miami and Cleveland before retiring earlier this summer. He shot the 3 well during his career, but never averaged 10 points a game.

The real story: James Jones is a good friend of… LeBron James. Everyone knows Phoenix tried to land a Cleveland Cavaliers star last month. Now that they have LeBron’s favorite teammate, they should be in constant contact. Good front offices would already be doing that, but at least now the Suns have an excuse to check in more frequently. You can only imagine how often LeBron will be cheering the Suns moves from here on out.

There’s no doubt that LeBron and Jones are friendly. We know LeBron enjoyed his time with the Miami Heat. Maybe he’d be interested in the dry heat.

There is no need to move anybody to make room for LeBron James in Phoenix. Plus, he is a big fan of Eric Bledsoe. Devin Booker is a young stud. Brandon Knight is on a reasonable deal. Josh Jackson looked good in Summer League and is on a rookie deal through 2021.

So what are the Suns next year, a team that wins 30 games, or closer to 40? Here’s how the depth chart looks today:

PG: Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Tyler Ulis
SG: Devin Booker, Elijah Millsap, Davon Reed
SF: Josh Jackson, TJ Warren, Derrick Jones Jr.
PF: Marquese Chriss, Jared Dudley, Dragan Bender
C: Tyson Chandler, Alan Williams, Alex Len

Three of the Suns 4 biggest contracts in the ’18-’19 season will be expiring – Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, and Jared Dudley. Everyone is cheap and replaceable. Dwyane Wade would be an ideal candidate to join LeBron in Phoenix. Wade turns 36 this coming season – the same age Shaq and Grant Hill were when the Suns’ training staff revived their careers. LeBron could play until he’s 50 in Phoenix.

LeBron in Phoenix makes a lot of sense. The question is, can James Jones get the band back together?