Ryan Michael McDonough (born November 20, 1980) is the former general manager of the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. McDonough was hired by the Suns on May 7, 2013. He had previously worked for ten years in the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

organization, serving in roles including director of international scouting and assistant general manager to former Suns player and head coach

Danny Ainge Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and professional baseball player who serves as the chief executive officer for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. Under the assistant general manager role, McDonough would get an NBA Finals championship for the Celtics during the 2007–08 season. In his first season as executive of the Suns, he helped recreate the team to give them a 23-win improvement from the 2012–13 season to the 2013–14 season. Despite that, however, he would end up being runner-up for the

NBA Executive of the Year Award The NBA Executive of the Year is an annual award in the National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1972–73 NBA season, to the league's best general manager, president of basketball/business operations, or another high-ranking e ...

R. C. Buford Robert Canterbury Buford (born May 16, 1960) is an American basketball executive who is the CEO of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named general manager in 2002 after five seasons serving as team presid ...

. While McDonough wouldn't reach the same success that he had in his first season with the Suns throughout the rest of his tenure, he still managed to receive a contract extension with Phoenix on July 19, 2017. He also made the primary decision to draft

Deandre Ayton Deandre Edoneille Ayton Sr. ( ; born July 23, 1998) is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2017 and a McDonald's All ...

as the Suns' first ever #1 pick in 2018. McDonough was fired from his job as the Suns' General Manager on October 8, 2018. James Jones and Trevor Bukstein would go on to replace McDonough's position in an interim collaboration of sorts during the

2018–19 NBA season The 2018–19 NBA season was the 73rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 16, 2018, and ended on April 10, 2019. The 2019 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 17, 2019, at Spectrum Center ...

before Jones eventually was hired as the permanent general manager going forward. McDonough is currently an insider and podcast host for Entercom and RADIO.COM Sports.

Personal life

McDonough is the son of ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' columnist writer Will McDonough, as well as the brother of

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

sportscaster and former

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

sportscaster

Sean McDonough Sean McDonough (born May 13, 1962) is an American sportscaster, currently employed by ESPN and the WEEI Boston Red Sox Radio Network. McDonough has play-by-play experience for all four major professional sports leagues in the United States an ...

and former

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

vice president of player personnel

Terry McDonough Terry McDonough is a British television director. He has been active since 1985. He moved on to directing episodes of ''Peak Practice'', '' Eleventh Hour'', '' Where the Heart Is'', '' Sweet Medicine'', ''The Royal'', '' Wire in the Blood'', ' ...

. Ryan is married to Valerie as of July 24, 2015.

References

External links

Suns bioProfile
at sbnation.com 1980 births Living people Boston Celtics executives NBA general managers Phoenix Suns executives University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni {{1980s-US-basketball-bio-stub