Suns ink GM Jones to multi-year extension

The Phoenix Suns agreed to a multi-year contract extension with general manager James Jones, the executive told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears.

Terms of the new deal, including its specific length, weren't immediately disclosed.

"I'm just fortunate, and I'm extremely grateful to be a part of it," Jones told Spears. "It's more than I could have ever dreamed of to be a part of a team like this, some of the best professionals across sports. And to have the success that we're having, it's so much fun.

"When you step into this job, you never really know what it'll be like, you hear stories about what it looks like, what the profession looks like, and the arc of a career in the front office or in an organization."

The 41-year-old won Executive of the Year last season after the Suns finished second in the Western Conference at 51-21 following his acquisition of Chris Paul in November 2020. The team then made just its third NBA Finals in franchise history but was ultimately undone by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Re-equipped with Paul after Jones negotiated a new four-year, $120-million deal with the 36-year-old in free agency, Phoenix is again off to a hot start in 2021-22 and currently owns the NBA's best record at 37-9.

Jones is behind several additions to the Suns' core of Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton that have transformed the franchise into a contender.

Along with landing Paul, the former 14-year NBA veteran also signed fellow Suns starter Jae Crowder and journeyman big JaVale McGee as free agents in back-to-back offseasons. He also signed current head coach Monty Williams to a five-year deal in 2019.

Jones first joined the Suns in July 2017 as their vice president of basketball operations under then-GM Ryan McDonough. After Phoenix fired McDonough in October 2018, it named Jones his interim replacement, splitting day-to-day duties temporarily with assistant Trevor Bukstein. In 2019, the Suns promoted Jones to be their full-time GM.