The Phoenix Suns’ front office changes continue, with the team allegedly not bringing back two assistant general managers next season.
Thank you for reading this post; remember to subscribe! According to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype on X, “Phoenix Suns assistant general managers Morgan Cato and Trevor Bukstein won’t return to the team’s front office, league sources told @hoopshype.”
Morgan Cato and Trevor Bukstein, the Phoenix Suns’ deputy general managers, will not return to the front office, according to league sources.
Matt Tellem, who has been with the Nets since 2011 and most recently served as Vice President of Strategy this season, is expected to join the Suns as an associate general manager.
Tellem is well-known for his creative approach to cap management. Cato has been the Suns’ associate general manager and vice president of basketball operations for the previous two seasons. When she joined Phoenix in 2022, she became the first woman of color to hold the position of assistant general manager for an NBA team.
According to her LinkedIn, Cato leads the team’s strategy and business processes for basketball growth and performance with a focus on coaching development, player engagement, roster cohesion and front office personnel operations. Before the Suns, she worked for the NBA for nearly 10 years.
Bukstein is the longest-tenured assistant GM for Phoenix, holding this title for the past 11 seasons. In this role, he combines his knowledge in the interpretation and application of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, salary cap management and trade and contract negotiations with his scouting proficiency as a talent evaluator. Before assuming this role, Bukstein spent the previous three seasons as the Suns’ director of basketball administration.
The Suns have two other people listed for the role of assistant general manager behind general manager and president of basketball operations James Jones: Ryan Resch (assistant general manager/vice president of basketball strategy) and Gerald Madkins (assistant general manager/vice president of personnel evaluation).
Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro had reported that the Suns were looking to shake things up in the front office after the hiring of Mike Budenholzer as the franchise’s 22nd head coach.
Phoenix has all of its starting five under contract for next season and is projected to have the highest payroll in the NBA next season at $209 million, severely limiting the team in terms of moves and trades it can make.
Because of this, the Suns will be operating over the second-tax apron next season, which is projected to be $190 million.
In this threshold, Phoenix is unable to sign free agents outside of the Suns to anything other than veteran minimum contracts. In terms of trades, the Suns will not be able to take in more salary than they send out, include cash in deals, aggregate contracts or use a preexisting trade exception.
The Suns will also be picking 22nd overall this summer in a draft that has been heralded as one of the worst in a long time. On the day of the first round of the draft (June 26), the Suns are able to trade both the No. 22 pick as well as their 2031 first-round pick, but not before then. These are the only first-round picks until 2031 that the Suns have the immediate ability to trade.
In what will be a really hectic offseason in terms of figuring out how to manage the second-tax apron, the Suns look to be making changes to help in this area.
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