James Jones is a three-time NBA Champion that played in 148 career playoff games as a player. He made the playoffs in 12 of his 13 seasons, and never boasted a losing record. Simply put, he’s a flat-out winner that has been around a championship environment his entire career. He’s already brought that winning DNA with him to Phoenix.
When he was officially promoted from interim GM to the full-time General Manager in April of 2019, he inherited a roster made up of kids that finished with the 2nd worst record in the NBA at 19-63. He had a rookie head coach in Igor Kokoskov leading the youngest team in the NBA, which wasn’t an ideal situation for any first-year head coach when it comes to winning basketball games.