Suns 2019 GM/Front Office Search

[1Sun]

Some of Bowers best at worst moves.

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If Bower was the one making the call on these, it really doesn't paint a pretty picture, particularly with respect to drafting history. Even his best moves, other than trading for Tobias Harris, were meh.

 

[Mainstreet]

Trading Cameron Bairstow to the Bulls for Spencer Dinwiddie was particularly not a good move if it is attributed to Bowers.

 

[Mainstreet]

Maybe James Jones will be involved in personnel decisions to help balance the equation.

 

[slinslin]

I actually like what Sarver seems like he is doing with the front office, seems to me he is building it more like how a European football club is structured.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't get Bowers getting credit for trading for Reggie Jackson and Blake Griffith. Those were two terrible contracts he willingly brought on.

I prefer to blind myself to his tenure with Detroit and focus on New Orleans where he put together a pretty good unit there before age and injuries and just generally apathy towards the franchise took hold.

 

[GatorAZ]

I don't get Bowers getting credit for trading for Reggie Jackson and Blake Griffith. Those were two terrible contracts he willingly brought on.

I prefer to blind myself to his tenure with Detroit and focus on New Orleans where he put together a pretty good unit there before age and injuries and just generally apathy towards the franchise took hold.

SVG was running the Pistons.

 

[elindholm]

Assuming we don't land Zion, would you trade Tyler Johnson and TJ Warren + filler/picks for Blake Griffin?

From a talent standpoint, that's a good deal, but I don't see Griffin and Booker meshing in personalities. Both are hotheads who aren't quite as good as they think they are and who would rather pout about calls they didn't get than compete on the defensive end.

 

[SirStefan32]

I don't get Bowers getting credit for trading for Reggie Jackson and Blake Griffith. Those were two terrible contracts he willingly brought on.

I prefer to blind myself to his tenure with Detroit and focus on New Orleans where he put together a pretty good unit there before age and injuries and just generally apathy towards the franchise took hold.

Yeah, that's exactly how I am looking at this. That whole Detroit situation/ set-up was just bizarre. I'd say it was all SVG, but if it was all on him, then I'd think Bowers would have stayed as their GM. On the other hand, Detroit may have wanted a completely clean slate, so who knows.

 

[sunsfan88]

Bowers is being hired for an “advisory” role with James Jones retaining final decision making authority.

I don’t think the Bowers hire is noteworthy enough to judge it as being good or bad.

 

[1Sun]

I actually like what Sarver seems like he is doing with the front office, seems to me he is building it more like how a European football club is structured.

Just what we need...more efforts to force a European approach into an American sport.

Square peg, meet round hole...

 

[JCSunsfan]

I am sorry. I like to be optimistic, but I can't. This is Sarver's MO. He hires a successor long before he fires a guy. Bowers will be there to become the GM when he fires JJ. It is just so predictable now.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I am sorry. I like to be optimistic, but I can't. This is Sarver's MO. He hires a successor long before he fires a guy. Bowers will be there to become the GM when he fires JJ. It is just so predictable now.

I don't think that's what he particularly does and I don't think that's what he's doing now with Bowers especially since JJ isn't actually the GM and doesn't apparently want that role (at least not now). But I don't see that as a bad thing anyway, it allows for hiring from within and I'm a strong proponent of doing that up until you realize you need fresh blood.

I really don't know what their roles will be nor who will still be in place 3 years from now but I wouldn't be shocked to find out it's more like the Babby hiring - mostly for image reasons and as a place holder, and in this case mentor, for the long term answer.

 

[Krangodnzr]

It looks like the Suns are bringing in a traditional talent evaluator to pair with the player friendly guy and cap guy.

I dont know if this is a popular take, but if you look at things in a vaccuum, JJ and Bukstein mostly made good moves this year. Hopefully Bowers just brings in traditional front office experience.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If three people are all the boss, then only one really is, and that is Sarver. A three-headed monster is still a monster.

 

[Krangodnzr]

If three people are all the boss, then only one really is, and that is Sarver. A three-headed monster is still a monster.

I dont know if Sarver will accept anything different.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I dont know if Sarver will accept anything different.

Not just that but the owner (managing partner) seems to be the boss for many franchises. The owner having final say isn't the problem, it's at what level he's involving himself that's created a lot of the issues.

 

[Krangodnzr]

It sucks because we know Sarver is a toxic, meddling owner. He bought the team at its peak and it seems like he feels like he had some part in that success. Because of this, Sarver likely thinks he knows what he's doing, even though it's apparent that he does not.

I just hope this current front office group can build the influence with him and trust that's needed to turn this franchise around.

 

[AzStevenCal]

It sucks because we know Sarver is a toxic, meddling owner. He bought the team at its peak and it seems like he feels like he had some part in that success. Because of this, Sarver likely thinks he knows what he's doing, even though it's apparent that he does not.

I just hope this current front office group can build the influence with him and trust that's needed to turn this franchise around.

Well, if you believe the spin from a couple recent articles, that early success did lead him to think he had some kind of magic touch but reality has gradually moved him off that position. Even if you believe the articles (which I mostly do), we don't know how far off that position he's moved nor how gradual it's been.

I don't think he's the evil incompetent that some/many consider him to be but there's no doubt that he has heavily contributed to the downfall of this organization. Since we're stuck with him, we can only hope that he's continuing to learn from his mistakes.

 

[Chaplin]

If Sarver is the monster we all think he is, don’t you think it makes ZERO sense to hire a third high-salary employee?

 

[JCSunsfan]

NOt sure what makes sense right now.

 

[AzStevenCal]

NOt sure what makes sense right now.

I'd say the thing that makes the most sense right now is to not go off the deep end, despite how easy that would be. We're bad, we've been bad for awhile and we have one of the worst owners in the league but our future should be far better than our recent past. We have more talent on our roster now than we've had in the past few years and once it matures, we should have a strong nucleus to continue building around. And remember, much of this mess is a by-product of the decision to tear it down and build from high draft picks.

 

[Hoop Head]

I'd say the thing that makes the most sense right now is to not go off the deep end, despite how easy that would be. We're bad, we've been bad for awhile and we have one of the worst owners in the league but our future should be far better than our recent past. We have more talent on our roster now than we've had in the past few years and once it matures, we should have a strong nucleus to continue building around. And remember, much of this mess is a by-product of the decision to tear it down and build from high draft picks.

I agree with this and in large part because if someone bought the team from Sarver tomorrow, they wouldn't need to do all that much to turn this team into a winning team for years to come. Wait for our core to mature and add some pieces to help guide them in that direction.

We have Booker and Ayton as our primary building blocks, both should be All-Stars within the next 3-4 years, perhaps sooner than later if this team starts winning. We have Bridges, Jackson, and Oubre as complimentary pieces for our "stars" and all of them offer something different so even though they play similar positions they aren't redundant. We have pieces to trade like Warren and Tyler Johnson who may help us some but ultimately they can help us more by using them in a trade to fill a hole on the roster rather than using them out of position as a stop gap. We have an extra 1st round pick and although it's a later round pick it's still an extra 1st in a time when 1st round picks carry a lot of value and we own all of our picks and don't really need to add more young talent so trading our picks isn't something that should set us back. We're in good shape for the future but we need to be smart in the moves that are made so we do keep moving forward rather than taking steps back.

 

[1Sun]

I agree with this and in large part because if someone bought the team from Sarver tomorrow, they wouldn't need to do all that much to turn this team into a winning team for years to come. Wait for our core to mature and add some pieces to help guide them in that direction.

We have Booker and Ayton as our primary building blocks, both should be All-Stars within the next 3-4 years, perhaps sooner than later if this team starts winning. We have Bridges, Jackson, and Oubre as complimentary pieces for our "stars" and all of them offer something different so even though they play similar positions they aren't redundant. We have pieces to trade like Warren and Tyler Johnson who may help us some but ultimately they can help us more by using them in a trade to fill a hole on the roster rather than using them out of position as a stop gap. We have an extra 1st round pick and although it's a later round pick it's still an extra 1st in a time when 1st round picks carry a lot of value and we own all of our picks and don't really need to add more young talent so trading our picks isn't something that should set us back. We're in good shape for the future but we need to be smart in the moves that are made so we do keep moving forward rather than taking steps back.

We have to start moving forward in order to keep moving forward. In case you haven't noticed, our record continues to get progressively worse...

 

[Mainstreet]

Only a random thought, but if the Suns hire Bowers it could provide cover for the Suns firing Kokoskov if that is the direction they want to go.

 

[BC867]

If three people are all the boss, then only one really is, and that is Sarver. A three-headed monster is still a monster.

Divide and conquer?