James Jones addressed the media and answered questions about Kevin Durant rumors circulating before the end of the trade deadline.
Phoenix Suns general manager James Jones spoke to the media after the conclusion of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
The Suns, who sit at 25-25 – good for ninth in the NBA West – have stopped becoming the talk of Phoenix. Once projected to be a championship team with superstars Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, the Suns have struggled to look the part of a contender.
Here is everything that Jones said to the media before the Suns’ game against the Utah Jazz.
On the Suns’ trade of former center Jusuf Nurkic to get Charlotte Hornets guard Vasilijie Micic and wing Cody Martin, among other assets:
“(I) scouted Cody back when he was in Nevada, and at that point he was playing point guard for his team. So (I like) his positional versatility (and) his defensive ability to make plays. His toughness was something that stood out back then. He didn’t get drafted at the time, so it was a challenge to try to get him, but he’s a guy we targeted. So when we had an opportunity to go pursue him, I thought it made sense for us. And then [Micic], he’s just a a winner. He’s been playing international ball for a long time, he’s been a really good player internationally. He’s had some really good moments in the NBA. His combination of both size and ball-handling is something I think we can use on the perimeter, just given, right now, our main ball-handlers are Tyus (Jones) and Monte (Morris).”
On the Suns’ aspirations post-trade deadline:
“Thirty-two games. We have more work to do, but it allows us an opportunity to focus with this team what it is we want to do which is compete at a high level, evidently have success in the playoffs and compete for a championship. We understand that there’s a lot of work to do. But it’ll be fun, it’ll be a challenge. We’re up to it.”
On reports the Suns were open to trading Kevin Durant:
“It’s been my longstanding policy to not talk about rumors, speculation. I’ve always said what we do internally, we keep internally. It always gets noisy when you’re not winning. We’re not winning, so we just stay above the noise.”
If the trade rumors will impact Kevin Durant’s upcoming deadline for an extension:
“Kevin’s been around the noise his entire career. He’s a pro. He’s the best at it. Like I said there’s noise when you’re not winning, and the simple fact is we haven’t won enough and we’re not winning enough. Storylines pop up. But we’re talking about basketball, and he’s always shown and will continue to show and I think this team will continue to show that despite the things outside of our walls, that we’re focused on the task at hand and focused on ball.”
If he felt to be transparent with Durant in order to help secure his long-term commitment:
“When you get to the trade deadline, every team has these moments, these moments of frustration, these moments of uncertainty. Until you talk about that earlier in the season, going into the preseason. You talk about that going into the trade deadline. And you talk about that going into the playoffs.”
On why the Big 3 hasn’t gelled:
“I think the injuries are a part of it. I also think we just haven’t performed that well. We’ve had opportunities where we’ve built some momentum but then there’s been [unclear] in our decisions.”
On the frustration from majority owner Mat Ishbia and front office staffing on the team:
“It’s internal. We also have to give respect to the league. The league is really competitive, some really good teams. And just like we’re trying to improve, our opponents are trying to improve. And night-in and night-out, in the NBA, I think this is probably the most competitive season the NBA has had in a long time.”
More to come in this story.
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