Present on Wednesday alongside owner Mat Ishbia to take stock of the Suns' season, James Jones seems to have saved his head. President of the franchise and head of recruitment, it was he who went looking for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal last season with resounding trades, and it is also he who has just signed a check for 80 million dollars to keep Grayson Allen. He was also the one who parted ways with Monty Williams to hire Frank Vogel. Suffice it to say that the Suns' failure is his. But he’s happy with… everyone.
“Given the circumstances, I thought Frank did a very good job. We've assembled a really talented team with three scorers, and every time we ask players to adapt and evolve their game, there's a transition period.” explains Jones. “Sometimes there are difficulties, but I thought we did a very good job. Look at our record: 49 victories. It's better than last season's quarantine. It was difficult to hold on to due to lack of continuity and injuries. But we won 49 games, we went to the playoffs, and we lost to a very good team. »
Do the Suns need a playmaker?
Then the subject of the leader of the game came up. Rumors spoke of a disagreement between Vogel and his management on the subject. Williams' successor would have liked a good playmaker, but he didn't get the satisfaction. What does James Jones think?
“I think the team could have benefited from the presence of a playmaker. In the same way that we would have benefited from the presence of understudies on the wing and inside” he replies. “I always come back to the idea that you have to put your best players on the field, and all season I have only heard about playmaker, playmaker, playmaker… That would be great to have someone who adapts to the squad we have built and who does what we ask of him… But if you put him on the field, he will take the ball out of someone's hands. So, it's not a question of position but of role, and it can be a playmaker as well as a winger. If we needed a playmaker for this group, we would find him. So I don't rule out the idea that it could be beneficial. But I don't think that's the answer to many of our problems. »
How to get the best out of Kevin Durant?
For Jones, the top priority is getting the best out of Kevin Durant. Even if the former MVP turns 36, the president of the Suns believes that he remains one of the best attackers in the NBA, and we must therefore make the most of him. Jones even thinks that his winger's potential has never been fully exploited!
“Our ongoing goal is to continue to look at how to best utilize Kevin Durant. Nobody has done it yet. I think we will be the first team to do it” he blurted. “When you optimize your potential, you optimize the entire team at the same time. There was a period this year when he had one of the best series of his career. It's not a question of attack, or use, but it's a whole where you have to find where, when and how to be on the same wavelength. If you ask Kevin, he'll tell you he loves the way we want him to play, and when he is at his best, he makes us a very, very good team and we are almost unbeatable. »
