Suns 2022 Off-Season Thread

[TOO]

Is this Sarver trying show he's not a piece of shit? Or is she an actual on the up and up hire? Sucks to even have to question the process.

[Indy]

Is this Sarver trying show he's not a piece of shit? Or is she an actual on the up and up hire? Sucks to even have to question the process.

I was worried about that too. I am choosing to be optimistic, though.

[Split T]

Is this Sarver trying show he's not a piece of shit? Or is she an actual on the up and up hire? Sucks to even have to question the process.

Ya I was wondering the same…I don’t want to take anything away from Morgan though, regardless she doesn’t deserve to have her hiring questioned.

[Superbone]

Is this Sarver trying show he's not a piece of shit? Or is she an actual on the up and up hire? Sucks to even have to question the process.

Ya I was wondering the same…I don’t want to take anything away from Morgan though, regardless she doesn’t deserve to have her hiring questioned.

It is hopefully both. There is no doubt in my mind that this is mainly happening because of Sarver's allegedly toxic work environment for women.

[Superbone]

From Morgan Cato's LinkedIn page:

About

I am presently the Associate Vice President of Business Operations for NBA League Operations, functioning as an operations and business lead on strategic basketball initiatives geared toward growing the game globally. While having direct management of a P&L business budget (including headcount, fund allocation and revenue generation for a 250-person operation), I work across business units to identify critical success metrics and lay the groundwork for their implementation.

I additionally advise and contribute to the administration of specific initiatives across League Operations, including but not limited to Youth Safety & Compliance strategy, the launch of the Basketball Africa League, expansion of NBA Elite Basketball Academies (Latin America, Africa, India, China and Australia), Womens Academies, execution and ideation of Respect for The Game and Future of the Game initiatives, launch and strategy of the Officiating Advisory Council and Replay Center 2.0 innovation. I also serve as a sponsor and key driver for the Referee Development Program for aspiring officials, the Women in Basketball Operations Forum and the NBA Coaches Equality Initiative & Summit.

My goal is to continue working across expanded basketball and entertainment platforms to strategical contribute to the impact of sports across the world.

[Split T]

Hopefully it’s just James Jones hiring her because she’s awesome and Sarver has nothing to do with it…

[Superbone]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/341 ... operations

Adrian Wojnarowski
Senior NBA Insider

The Phoenix Suns are hiring the NBA's Morgan Cato as assistant general manager and vice president of basketball operations, making her one of the league's highest-ranking women in a front office, sources told ESPN.

Cato -- who'll also become the first woman of color to hold the title of assistant GM -- will report to GM James Jones and work with coach Monty Williams on several fronts, including the leadership and strategy related to coaching development, player engagement and front-office personnel operations, sources said.

Cato spent the past decade working for the NBA in New York under president of league operations Byron Spruell. Her roles there included several strategic initiatives that targeted the growth of the game throughout the NBA and around the world, including officiating development, the launch of the Basketball Africa League and the sport's global talent pipeline.

The Suns were a league-best 64-18 this past season before losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.

[JeremyG]

Sounds to me like Sarver is getting the Mark Cuban treatment. They're just giving him a slap on the wrist and telling him he has to hire a woman of color to prove he is not a racist and sexist.

(By all counts, she is a well qualified person who deserves the hire. I'm just pointing out what could be the reason behind it.)

[Indy]

Is this Sarver trying show he's not a piece of shit? Or is she an actual on the up and up hire? Sucks to even have to question the process.

Ya I was wondering the same…I don’t want to take anything away from Morgan though, regardless she doesn’t deserve to have her hiring questioned.

It is hopefully both. There is no doubt in my mind that this is mainly happening because of Sarver's allegedly toxic work environment for women.

You think we only hired her because of Sarver's toxicity? Not because she is the best candidate for the job?

[Drewsprocket]

I think it’s fair to assume that’s the case. Plenty of Women have long been qualified and best person for the job. Doesn’t mean we have to ignore the timing of it. I’d rather have someone like her be a majority owner than Sarver. I just hope that Sarver doesn’t do what narcissists often do and go on a revenge tour once he feels cleared and heals from his wounds.

[JeremyG]

I think it’s fair to assume that’s the case. Plenty of Women have long been qualified and best person for the job. Doesn’t mean we have to ignore the timing of it. I’d rather have someone like her be a majority owner than Sarver. I just hope that Sarver doesn’t do what narcissists often do and go on a revenge tour once he feels cleared and heals from his wounds.

As long as it's anything like Booker and Co.'s "revenge tour" we have nothing to worry about.

[Drewsprocket]

I think it’s fair to assume that’s the case. Plenty of Women have long been qualified and best person for the job. Doesn’t mean we have to ignore the timing of it. I’d rather have someone like her be a majority owner than Sarver. I just hope that Sarver doesn’t do what narcissists often do and go on a revenge tour once he feels cleared and heals from his wounds.

As long as it's anything like Booker and Co.'s "revenge tour" we have nothing to worry about.

Revenge peaked early af and just fell apart. I’d pay top dollar for the 30 for 30.

[The Bobster]

"Revenge Tour" is a bullshit term I never want to hear from a Suns player ever again.

[The Bobster]

One area that needs fixing is having long-term vision when it comes to player development and the cap. How they handled Jalen Smith and Deandre Ayton and their upcoming free agency has only managed to put themselves in a "sell low" position on both. The smart thing with Smith would have been to either pick up his option or trade him to someone interested in picking up his option. The smart thing with Ayton would be either re-signing him last year or this year and trading him when they have a more trade leverage. No matter what they sign him for there will be teams interested in trading for him (just don't pick up the phone when the Lakers call and offer Russell Westbrook).

We'll have to see if hiring Cato adds anything new to the front office and how they approach things.

[specialsauce]

Is this Sarver trying show he's not a piece of shit? Or is she an actual on the up and up hire? Sucks to even have to question the process.

Ya I was wondering the same…I don’t want to take anything away from Morgan though, regardless she doesn’t deserve to have her hiring questioned.

It is hopefully both. There is no doubt in my mind that this is mainly happening because of Sarver's allegedly toxic work environment for women.

You think we only hired her because of Sarver's toxicity? Not because she is the best candidate for the job?

Big time PR stunt. Sarver has been blasted for being disrespectful to women and dropping N bombs freely. Well, look at him making amends on both ends. This better not be “hire a black woman in a position of power and we’ll call it even.” This better be “fuck you get your racist ass out, we’re sending in our best and brightest to right the ship.”

[Indy]

Is this Sarver trying show he's not a piece of shit? Or is she an actual on the up and up hire? Sucks to even have to question the process.

Ya I was wondering the same…I don’t want to take anything away from Morgan though, regardless she doesn’t deserve to have her hiring questioned.

It is hopefully both. There is no doubt in my mind that this is mainly happening because of Sarver's allegedly toxic work environment for women.

You think we only hired her because of Sarver's toxicity? Not because she is the best candidate for the job?

Big time PR stunt. Sarver has been blasted for being disrespectful to women and dropping N bombs freely. Well, look at him making amends on both ends. This better not be “hire a black woman in a position of power and we’ll call it even.” This better be “fuck you get your racist ass out, we’re sending in our best and brightest to right the ship.”

That is what I am counting on.

[Mori Chu]

I don't think it is fair to her to ask if this is a "PR stunt" or a "diversity hire" or whatever; that undermines what seems to be a lot of experience and talent that she has. But I do think it is interesting to put this news next to the investigation into Saver and the female employee who quit and complained about the work environment. Maybe this hire signals that Saver has been pulled back from critical personnel decisions and a more open-minded group has the primary voice in that process now.

[AmareIsGod]

[Split T]

Just a thought, would the suns have to include picks somewhere here:

Atlanta receives Ayton
Charlotte recieves Capela
Phoenix recieves Collins and Rozier

There’d be contracts included from Phoenix as well to make it work. Saric/Payne/Craig would work. You could also substitute Shamet for Saric or Shamet for Payne/Craig.

[Shabazz]

Anyone else have like 30 tabs open with Suns postmortem articles and like 15 podcasts discussing the same that they just can’t bring themselves to read/listen to for the last month+? Just me?