Who is most responsible for the Phoenix Suns’ culture shift?

2. The Phoenix Suns are eternally indebted to James Jones.

When he first began as the vice president of basketball operations, many questioned the decision to bring Jones along. He was unproven and fresh off an NBA career where he was known to many as the guy who followed LeBron around the league. Once he became an interim GM and eventually full-time GM for this team, it was made evident that Jones spent that much time around LeBron because of his advanced basketball mind.

Jones facilitated a handful of trades — Many of which were gutsy and questionable to most. However, time has proven that Jones knows talent when he sees it and had a clear perspective when making these decisions. He’s maximized the Suns’ assets and isn’t afraid to insert himself into trade conversations when it makes the most sense to do so.

This is the man responsible for trading for Kelly Oubre Jr., who was influential in bringing some heart and swagger to the Suns’ lineup. He’s also the man responsible for trading Oubre to acquire Chris Paul, who accelerated their timeline by adding an all-time great facilitator to a lineup featuring a plethora of young talent and wise veterans.

He’s responsible for adding Ricky Rubio, who taught the young Suns how to be a selfless adult in the NBA. Jones stuck to his gut by drafting DeAndre Ayton No. 1 in 2018 knowing well that he might catch flack for it down the line. Yes, he probably should’ve drafted Luka Doncic, but Jones knew that Booker needed the ball in his hands and that his team’s frontcourt needed a go-to guy.

Jones finds talent wherever he can. He nabbed Cam Payne from the G League, acquired Jevon Carter for next to nothing, moved Zhaire Smith for an All-Defensive candidate in Mikal Bridges and took a swing on Cameron Johnson — One of the most NBA-ready players from his draft class.

Time and time again, Jones has made decisions that some may deem questionable. I’ll admit that I’ve questioned his decisions myself, but every step has amounted to some form of progress toward establishing a new culture and for that, he deserves an immense amount of credit.

Still, his best decision has been bringing along the No. 1 guy on this list.