to take Mikal Bridges with the 10th pick from the Philadelphia 76ers, a draft pick the Suns already had from the Steve Nash trade before trading the pick to the 76ers in the Brandon Knight trade. In the off-season, Devin Booker signed a 5-year $158 million contract extension with the Suns. Before the start of the regular season and during preseason on October 8, 2018, owner Robert Sarver decided to relieve Ryan McDonough from the general manager position, and named vice president of basketball operations James Jones and assistant general manager Trevor Bukstein as the interim general managers. A highlight of the season was when a planned three-way trade with the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies fell apart through miscommunication of the players involved and being sent in the planned deal. The Suns would once again have another losing season as they missed the playoffs for the ninth straight season. At the end of the season, the Suns made James Jones the team's permanent general manager, with co-interim general manager Trevor Bukstein returning to his prior assistant general manager role. When the season came to an end, the coaching staff, including head coach Igor Kokoškov, were fired on April 23, 2019. Former New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans head coach and Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams was hired as the team's new head coach on May 3, and completed the rest of the new coaching staff on June 26. Phoenix finished with a 19–63 record, the worst in the Western Conference. Ayton made the All-Rookie First Team. The Suns had the third odds in the lottery but landed the sixth pick. During the day of the 2019 NBA draft, the Suns agreed to deal T. J. Warren to the Indiana Pacers and their second-round pick (which would become KZ Okpala) to the Miami Heat for cash considerations. During the draft, they agreed to swap their sixth pick (which would become Jarrett Culver), trading down for the Minnesota Timberwolves' 11th pick (which would become Cameron Johnson) and Dario Šarić, and also agreeing to deal the Milwaukee Bucks' future first-round pick to the Boston Celtics for Aron Baynes and the draft rights to point guard Ty Jerome, as well as agree to a deal with undrafted Jalen Lecque. In the off-season they signed veteran point guard Ricky Rubio to a three-year deal, and re-signed Oubre to a two-year deal, signed Frank Kaminsky and Cheick