Brian Gregory Promoted to Suns GM amid Kevin Durant Trade Rumors

The Phoenix Suns took an important step in what figures to be a busy offseason Thursday.

Phoenix announced it promoted vice president of player programming Brian Gregory to the general manager position as previous GM James Jones transitioned to a senior adviser role.

Gregory will be under the spotlight during the offseason as the team looks to hire a new head coach and perhaps even trade Kevin Durant.

That Phoenix went with Gregory isn't a particular surprise.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported Wednesday that promoting the vice president was "an emerging option" since "Gregory already has a significant voice in Suns draft strategy and is highly regarded by owner Mat Ishbia."

Gregory was an assistant coach at Michigan State when Ishbia was a player and, as NBA insider Jake Fischer pointed out, is already quite familiar with college scouting ahead of the draft:

Phoenix hired Gregory ahead of the 2024-25 campaign after his lengthy career as a college basketball coach.

He was the head coach of Dayton for eight seasons from 2003-11, the head coach of Georgia Tech for five seasons from 2011-16 and the head coach of South Florida for six seasons from 2017-23.

In all, he went a combined 327-287 during his three stops.

As for Jones, he was the GM since 2019 and helped build the roster that reached the 2021 NBA Finals. However, Phoenix was arguably the most disappointing team in the league this past season as it failed to even reach the Western Conference play-in tournament at 36-46 and has now fired its head coach in three consecutive campaigns.

One of Gregory's first tasks will be finding a replacement for the fired Mike Budenholzer, who lasted just one season after Frank Vogel lasted just one season as the replacement for the fired Monty Williams.

Then there is the question of Durant, who will surely be in plenty of trade rumors during the offseason after the team failed to reach the playoffs this season. 

The 36-year-old has just one more season remaining on his deal, and trading him could be the fastest way for the front office to facilitate a quick rebuild around Devin Booker.

It will be quite the monumental task for Gregory as he begins his first GM role in the NBA.