Just before the kick-off of the Western Conference final, it was Robert Sarver, the Suns boss, who broke the news to everyone: James Jones won the “Executive Of The Year” trophy, which each year rewards the best leader of the season. A poll in which only GMs vote.
Appointed GM in 2019, after two seasons as vice president and interim GM, the former Heat and Cavaliers winger turned the franchise into a title contender with the hiring of Chris Paul and Jae Crowder last fall, then reinforcing the bench with Torrey Craig during the season. All while extending Devin Booker and making great catches in the 2018 Draft with Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges.
At 40, and only four years after his arrival, he managed to bring Phoenix back to the playoffs after a decade of famine.
In the votes, Jones was just ahead of Dennis Lindsey (Jazz) as they obtained the same number of 1st and 2nd places, and Jones won thanks to more votes for 3rd place.
| Tirs | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Devin Booker | 67 | 33.9 | 48.4 | 34.0 | 86.7 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 25.6 |
| Chris Paul | 70 | 31.4 | 49.9 | 39.5 | 93.4 | 0.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 8.9 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 16.4 |
| Deandre Ayton | 69 | 30.6 | 62.6 | 20.0 | 76.9 | 3.3 | 7.2 | 10.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 14.4 |
| Mikal Bridges | 72 | 32.6 | 54.3 | 42.5 | 84.0 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 13.5 |
| Jae Crowder | 60 | 27.5 | 40.4 | 38.9 | 76.0 | 0.5 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 10.1 |
| Cameron Johnson | 60 | 24.0 | 42.0 | 34.9 | 84.7 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 9.6 |
| Dario Saric | 50 | 17.4 | 44.7 | 34.8 | 84.8 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 8.7 |
| Cameron Payne | 60 | 18.0 | 48.4 | 44.0 | 89.3 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 8.4 |
| Torrey Craig | 32 | 18.8 | 50.3 | 36.9 | 80.0 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 7.2 |
| Abdel Nader | 24 | 14.8 | 49.1 | 41.9 | 75.7 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 6.7 |
| Frank Kaminsky | 47 | 15.2 | 47.1 | 36.5 | 61.7 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 6.6 |
| E’twaun Moore | 27 | 14.4 | 45.5 | 31.4 | 85.7 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 4.9 |
| Langston Galloway | 40 | 10.9 | 44.9 | 42.4 | 95.7 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 4.8 |
| Jevon Carter | 60 | 11.9 | 42.2 | 37.1 | 57.1 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 4.1 |
| Jalen Smith | 27 | 5.8 | 44.0 | 23.5 | 71.4 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 2.0 |
| Damian Jones | 14 | 6.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 54.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Ty-shon Alexander | 15 | 3.2 | 25.0 | 22.2 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 |
