The sun came out from the west.
I know that over the past 2 days, both Chris Paul and Booker have received a lot of praise. But today, I want to talk more about the man behind the transformation of Phoenix, the man who built the castle in the ruins.
I believe you will remember this meme:
He, who is 2 meters tall, entered the NBA in 2003.
Without a title in the first few years of his career, he decided to join the Miami Heat, and the Heat immediately became the favorite for the championship, and he and the team reached the finals for 4 consecutive years and won 2 championships.
In 14 years, he decided to join the Cleveland Cavaliers, so that the fish belly team that had been at the bottom of the team in recent years entered the playoffs again after a gap of 4 years, and let the team reach the Finals again after 8 years, and finally in 16 years, he finally helped the Cavaliers win the first championship in team history.
I believe everyone guessed who he was, yes, this great man, is James Jones!
This year, without James, James Jones still reached the Finals.
And in the process, it was his sun that defeated the lakers of old Zhan ...
Since taking office as general manager of the Suns in 2019, Jones has really done an extraordinary job. As Perkins put it:
"Give James Jones some damn respect!"
In the 09-10 season, after the combination of Nash and Xiaosi lost the Western Conference, Phoenix began a 10-year dark history.
Once upon a time, "shoulder to shoulder with the sun" was just a laughing stock in the league.
The team's record is thin, with a regular season record of about 20 wins in the year, and this is just one of them.
What's worse is the chaos of their management: boss Savour will command the team beyond the line, and even rumors have rushed directly into the dressing room to lay out tactics...
The work of former general manager MacDonald is even more of a mess:
The formation of Dragic, Bledsoe and Thomas Jr. three first-place lineups, known in history as the "Chaos of the Three Controls".
Later, all three left the team...
In terms of drafts, not to mention:
The No. 4 pick chose Bender, and now Bender is not playing in the NBA; the Suns, who won the No. 4 pick again in 17 years, selected Josh Jackson, the thorn-headed player; you might say that McDonald is not without merit, and people chose Ayton.
this... If Digo had been the general manager of the Suns, I would have chosen Ayton at that time.
In addition, McDonald in the team's 5 years as general manager, the Suns have a total of 5 head coaches.
If there is one word to describe the sun at that time, it must be: internal and external troubles.
The "savior" who put Phoenix back on track is James Jones.
Let's take a look at what he did:
The first of the three fires in the new post was to change coaches, sack Kokoshkov and sign Monti.
Monty Williams is a great coach. He has his own system and philosophy that can make this young team fit together.
Don't forget, last season's Suns, under Monti's leadership, played a total victory record in the park, very close to the playoffs.
At that time, there was already hope.
The second fire, the addition and adjustment of the players.
Josh Jackson gave it to the Grizzlies almost for nothing. TJ Warren has the ability, that also has to go, on the one hand, his contract is quite large, on the other hand, the personality of these two players will affect the chemistry.
In the draft, the Suns traded the No. 6 pick with the Timberwolves to bring in the inside Saric and No. 11 picks.
This No. 11 pick got Cameron Johnson, who had a very bright performance in this year's playoffs.
At the same time, a contract was made: Rubio came.
Although the sign did not play São Paulo, in fact, the chemistry of the team during that time was really good, and his talent in organizing the attack released Booker.
More important is the third fire: with Rubio and Oubre as their main assets, the Sun got to São Paulo.
Then, there is the story of the present.
In fact, in addition to getting the cannon brother, James Jones also has 2 operations, and the effect is often ignored by fans:
First, sign Claude with the full middle class.
Crowder's hardness on the front line makes people sigh, absolutely the title puzzle. Any team that wants to compete for the championship needs such a fierce role as him. Especially in the context of the Suns' core athlete Booker + Ayton's play style and personality are soft.
Claude is the Sun's field bodyguard.
Second, the Suns traded the Bucks mid-season and got a strong, tough Craig.
In the second year of his tenure, under the strategizing of James Jones, the sun not only calmed the chaos, they had to fight for the championship next.
Although there is an afterthought, in fact, we can see that his entire operation idea is very clear.
While fans are praising São Paulo, don't forget the sun, the big man behind the scenes...
Manager Zhan is really level!
Digo watched the ball late, you often say that the Zhan Emperor, is James Jones, right?