McDonough had been responsible for several key decisions since his July '17 contract extensionNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Suns GM Ryan McDonough "has been let go" less than two weeks before the team's Oct. 17 opener against the Mavericks, according to Duane Rankin of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. McDonough was "entering his sixth season" as the franchise’s GM. Suns VP/Basketball Operations James Jones and Assistant GM Trevor Bukstein will "share the GM responsibilities in the interim." Jones will "handle basketball operations related to coaches, players and staff, while Bukstein will be the primary contact for player transactions." Suns Owner Robert Sarver is "regarded as a hands-on owner, but the timing of this move is questionable." He had all offseason after the draft and free agency to "evaluate McDonough." Sarver said, "It culminated where we were heading in the summer. We discussed a number of opportunities I felt were realistic in term of what progress would look like and ultimately, for me, the rate of progress wasn't there where I thought it needed to be." He added that letting go of McDonough was his "decision alone" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/9). THE ATHLETIC's Gina Mizell wrote the timing "sparked outside confusion, since McDonough has been responsible for several key decisions" since his July '17 contract extension. McDonough hired Igor Kokoskov as the "first European-born coach in NBA history" and drafted C DeAndre Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/8). Phoenix-based KMVP-FM's John Gambadoro: "The timing of this firing is mind boggling. ... Suns let McDonough hire a new coach, draft three players, make trades, sign free agents and now will go with a new GM?" (TWITTER.com, 10/8).
LOOKING AHEAD: USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt writes while McDonough "takes the fall now, the spotlight returns to Sarver and his ownership of the Suns." Described as competitive, Sarver "oscillates between patient and impatient." He is willing to "rebuild one minute and wants to win now the next." Sarver needs to "find a GM who can execute his vision," similar to the situation the Mavericks have with Owner Mark Cuban and President of Basketball Operations Donnie Nelson (USA TODAY, 10/9). In DC, Tim Bontemps writes Sarver "would love to have" Basketball HOFer Steve Nash "take over as the face of the franchise, something that has been rumbled about for years." But people who know Nash think there is "no chance he goes near such a role, given the state of the Suns." As long as Sarver "remains in control of the franchise, it’s hard to see the Suns coming close to reaching their potential" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/9). ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz said the Suns GM position is “one of 30 jobs, so they're all desirable if your goal is to run an NBA basketball team." But he said Sarver is an owner who "has a reputation from pretty much anyone who has ever worked at the highest level for him for being difficult." He is also known to be "somewhat of a meddler as owners go" (“The Jump,” ESPN2, 10/8). ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted, "Sarver is perhaps the NBA's most involved owner in basketball decision-making and the plan can change day-to-day. McDonough survived five years with him. Recruiting a new GM is never an easy sell there" (TWITTER.com, 10/8).
THE MAN UP TOP: ESPN's Nick Friedell said Sarver "made all these decisions throughout the summer to build this team," and now he is "letting the guy who supposedly built this team walk away." Friedell: "Sarver continues to always make things much messier than they need to be." He added, "Every time that Sarver has gotten in the middle of things ... it's a mess" (“The Jump,” ESPN2, 10/8). SI.com's Jeremy Woo wrote the firing of McDonough "rings somewhat abrupt, if unsurprising." Sarver is known around the league to be a "heavy-handed owner, and in fairness to McDonough, it’s tough to know in retrospect which of his decisions were actually his" (SI.com, 10/8). SI.com's Ben Golliver wrote of McDonough, "The epitaph on his grim tenure should read: 'He made every type of mistake there is to make, and yet he still wasn’t the root cause of the Suns’ dysfunction.'" Aspiring basketball execs "should commit McDonough’s many gaffes to memory." However, the firing of coach Earl Watson last season after just three games and McDonough’s own "ill-timed departure speak directly to the source of all that ills," Sarver. He has "continuously proven to have no feel for how to manage his key personnel, to properly invest in his organization, or to stick to a course" (SI.com, 10/8). THE RINGER's Haley O'Shaughnessy wrote Sarver has a "reputation for being hands-on, to put it politely." Last April, Charles Barkley called Sarver a "'control freak' based on stories from past Suns coaches and employees." Sarver is the one ultimately "making the final call on all decisions." And really, anything this franchise does is "probably his idea anyway" (THERINGER.com, 10/8).
