Eric SorensonJames Jones has a new title and a laundry list of things to address on his to-do list. The recently named Phoenix Suns general manager met the media Wednesday morning to discuss a number of those tasks, including finding a new head coach after relieving Igor Kokoskov earlier this week.
“Ultimately, the job that I agreed to was to make decisions for the franchise,” Jones explained. “The decision with Igor was mine and mine alone. That’s why it was a tough decision because I do have a ton of respect for Igor.”
As for the new coach moving forward, Jones refused to speculate on specific names but said the process is already ongoing and wouldn’t rule out a coach without previous head coaching experience. Kokoskov, Earl Watkins and Jeff Hornacek were all hired by Phoenix as rookie head coaches.
“Some of the games best coaches were assistants who became head coaches,” he said.
“Our priorities are still the same. We need to add guys in their prime… We will focus on acquiring those guys via all the channels we can.”
– GM James Jones on offseason plans pic.twitter.com/QgnAPLymOX
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 24, 2019
Jones did refer to hiring a head coach with previous NBA experience leading a team as “gold” but sounded open-minded to exploring all options and stressed he won’t be working within a certain budget when it comes to the hiring process.
“We want a leader. Someone that can relate to our players. Someone that will challenge them.”
– GM James Jones on coaching search pic.twitter.com/mo0zCOSAFv
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 24, 2019
He explained it was a collective set of issues the team could improve on moving forward this summer and beyond. Jones also said he’s hopeful to re-sign restricted free agent Kelly Oubre, Jr. although the two haven’t spoken recently.
