In Dec. 2022, Mat Ishbia’s $4 billion offer to buy the Phoenix Suns and Mercury was approved and from Day 1, his sights have been on bringing the Valley championships.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Since his take over, the Suns’ roster has changed drastically with blockbuster trades for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal while mortgaging most of their draft picks to do so, dealing away Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton after a 64-win season in 2021-22 and reconfiguring the look of the team each year.
The lack of playoff success the Suns have had with the multi-billionaire real estate CEO has seen questions being raised about whether the team indeed has what it takes to win a championship or not. Phoenix hasn’t advanced past the second round in all three years Ishbia has been in charge.
Despite the skepticism from some fans who are confused about what Ishbia is doing, he remains bullish about what the organization is heading in the right direction and welcomes criticism if they don’t reach their goals.
“When I bought the team, which wasn’t that long ago still, I talked about the four pillars: great culture, fan experience, community and winning. We are trying to be leaders here in Phoenix, we want to be the best organization in sports and I think we are on our way,” Ishbia said at Suns media day on Monday. “You can’t be the best organization in sports without winning, without competing for championships. We understand that and it is a big part of it. You guys [media and fans] get to hold me accountable to that and hold our team accountable to that. We are able to compete and get better every day, hopefully you guys will feel that.”
The team is practically the same as it was last year besides a swap at the head coaching position and a few free-agent signings that will look to bolster the roster.
With the firing of former head coach Frank Vogel after just one season on the job, hiring Mike Budenholzer and making the offseason transactions of Tyus Jones, Monte Morris and Mason Plumlee, Ishbia sees this season being a lot better than a year ago.
Even though 49 wins in a season is no easy task, he has higher standards than that for everyone involved in the organization, including himself.
“I think the priority was we got to get our team in a position to succeed at a higher level than we did last year. Last year we won 49 games, but you don’t get a championship for winning games in the regular season,” Ishbia said, “We want to compete at the highest level, the word ‘compete’ is something we didn’t do at the highest level last year. It’s not just the players, that’s coaches, that’s ownership. All of us could do better.”
In a stacked Western Conference year in and year out, Phoenix is expected to make either a playoff or play-in tournament spot. Anything short of either objective would be a massive failure, especially with the talent on the roster with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant among others.
But with the league wide open and no clear-cut leader over the rest of the pack, Ishbia likes the Suns’ chances and will keep believing that the sky is the limit for his team.
“We like our team, I love our team. I think we have a great team and a lot of people love our team. We are starting to see other teams start to make adjustments, we are all in,” Ishbia said. “We believe in our team, we believe we have the ability to compete at the highest level with any team in the NBA.”
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
