The Phoenix Suns have reportedly hired Morgan Cato from the NBA’s league office to take over as their assistant general manager and vice president of basketball operations.
“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.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Phoenix Suns hiring Morgan Kato
Cato was working with the league office as the associate vice president of business operations for the NBA. She has been with the Assocciation for nearly the past decade. Prior to that, Cato worked with Fortune 500 companies Ernst & Young as well as Lehman Brothers.
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.”
Morgan Cato’s professional bio
She now becomes one of the NBA’s highest-ranking women in a front office and will have a role in the Suns’ player personnel decisions.
The Suns are coming off a 2021-22 regular season in which they led the NBA with 64 wins. They ultimately lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the conference semifinals.
There’s a lot of work for general manager James Jones and Co. to do this summer in order for Phoenix to be considered NBA title contenders again in 2022-23. Hiring Morgan Cato at this point in the offseason should help matters.