Mat Ishbia: The House Is Not On Fire, We're In A Great Position

[RealGM Wiretap]

Mat Ishbia addressed the media on Wednesday, but he said he has yet to begin his assessment of the Phoenix Suns following their first round sweep by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The future of Frank Vogel as head coach is uncertain and Ishbia declined to say whether he would remain in the job next season.

"We're going to evaluate everything," Ishbia said. "... Everything is on the table to evaluate. We have just not started it."

The Suns reached The Finals in 2021, won 64 games in 21-22 before a surprising second round exit against the Dallas Mavericks, lost in six games to the Denver Nuggets in 2023 before their first round exit in 2024.

"I love that people are frustrated that we didn't win an NBA championship, because, guess what? So are we," he said. "... I'm happy where we're at, from that perspective, that people are disappointed, because, guess what, there's not someone in the organization that's more disappointed than me, my GM, my CEO, my players, my coach. Everyone's disappointed, just like the fans. Guess what? I'm going to own the team for 50 years, and probably 45, 46, 47 of those years, we'll probably have the same conversation -- like, hey, we didn't win the championship, and we're going to be disappointed then, too. That's how it's going to be, and I love it."

The widely held belief about the Suns is that the NBA's punitive second luxury tax apron and their lack of future draft assets will make it difficult for the roster to improve.

"I feel like the narrative around [here is] the house is burning, it's incorrect," Ishbia said. "... Fans like to look in the future and say, 'Hey, I really like that 2031 draft pick because maybe that seventh grader is going to be really good and we're going to draft him and one day he's going to be a player.'"

He later added, "Five in the next eight years, we have a first-round draft pick. I know that's not a cool thing to say out there because people like to say their narratives that we have no draft picks, but we have five in the next eight years and we can trade two of 'em next month if we want. So it is not like people say we have no flexibility."

Ishbia believes health and the newness of their team are "extremely fixable."

"Let's be real -- ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is," Ishbia said. "The house is not on fire. We're in a great position. It's not hard to fix. We have enough talent to win a championship."

Via Baxter Holmes/ESPN

[jmbish87]

"Guess what?" and "It's not hard to fix" will be on this guy's GM tombstone.

[jars]

"ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is."


Not the T'Wolves though

[hippesthippo]

Guess what?

You look like and sound like a rookie making rookie mistakes.

If Ishbia is gonna own the team for 50 years, he's got a lot to learn still. Bradley Beal looked like he didn't have a role on the team at all. They need a point guard and a big man, bad.

Label them whatever position you want, the Sun's basically have 3 SG's taking up their entire cap. Guys like Nurkic and Little are not good enough to fill the gaps. Nowhere close.

KD's offense isn't going anywhere, but his days as an impact defender look finished. Dude just can't make the same plays on defense that he was physically capable of in GS, where has was a legit playmaker on that end of the floor.

[Hans1984]

Guess what ?

It's very hard to fix.

[TheCage4]

The Suns are projected to have the highest team payroll over the next two seasons. Their Big 3 is set to make more than the full payrolls of 14 other teams in the league (granted, numbers will change).

It's not a house Mat, it's a dumpster, and it's a blazing inferno.

[Bentley1225]

I never understood why they traded for Beal. They need a PG and would have been better off being patient and added maybe a Terry Rozier or they should have tried to acquire Fred Van Vleet before last summer.

[CBS7]

I never understood why they traded for Beal. They need a PG and would have been better off being patient and added maybe a Terry Rozier or they should have tried to acquire Fred Van Vleet before last summer.

They would have been better off if they traded Beal's package for nothing. An empty roster spot is better than Beal for the Suns.

But yeah, the trade was horrendous, they were just trying to make a sUpEr TeAm without caring how the pieces fit together.

[puja21]

Guess what?

You look like and sound like a rookie making rookie mistakes.

If Ishbia is gonna own the team for 50 years, he's got a lot to learn still. Bradley Beal looked like he didn't have a role on the team at all. They need a point guard and a big man, bad.

Label them whatever position you want, the Sun's basically have 3 SG's taking up their entire cap. Guys like Nurkic and Little are not good enough to fill the gaps. Nowhere close.

KD's offense isn't going anywhere, but his days as an impact defender look finished. Dude just can't make the same plays on defense that he was physically capable of in GS, where has was a legit playmaker on that end of the floor.

Isbhia's 44, so in 50 years he'll be 94.

Of the 30 current owners, none of are 90 and only 4 are even 80+:

1. Jazz = Gail Miller just turned 80
2. Wolves = Glen Taylor (selling) turned 83 two weeks ago
3. Bulls = Reinsdorf is 88
4. Pacers = Herb Simon is 89

[puja21]

"ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is."


Not the T'Wolves though

Zero chance any of these teams would even take the call:

Denver, OKC, Boston, Minnesota, New York, Cleveland

[shrink]

"ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is."

Not the T'Wolves though

This is an interesting point, and kind of changed my thinking on the Suns.

The hardest part of building a franchise is finding superstars. In today’s NBA, they are gold. You aren’t winning championships without one, and they are great for a team’s bottom line. You can get superstars in three ways:

1. Free Agency: but if you’re not one of the 3-4 free agent destination cities, they don’t consider you
2. Trade: but in this age of player empowerment, they can force a trade, or simply walk when their contract expires.
3. Draft: but a team has to wait, and there is a lot of risk that a player never becomes a true superstar.

PHX drafted Booker, and having him made the team a destination that Durant would consider. That’s valuable.

Now, I think that they went a bridge too far adding Beal. I think they need to make changes, but have painted themselves in a bit of a corner. And while I think the number of teams that would swap is less than 26, I think the majority of teams would swap rosters with PHX today. Maybe Ischbia is right - the house isn’t on fire right now, but the attached garage is smouldering and they need to do something.

[pushfloater]

3 off the dribble scorers... Basketball is deeper than that. Talent is extremely important, but there has to me a rhyme or reason. Who will they let go of to find a different skill set? Who wants the Beal 50m?

[Toine85]

EDIT: Double post.

[Toine85]

It's super ironic that everyone is flaming Mat Ishbia now when they were flaming the Twolves last year who now look like championship contenders.

Last year the Twolves made a big trade for Gobert (Suns got KD and Beal), had a bunch of injuries during the season and then flamed out in the first round last year. Now everyone is jumping on the Wolves bandwagon all of a sudden.

Granted, I am a Knicks fan and not a fan of how the Suns are constructed either. But, it's not out of the realm of possibilities that they turn things around next year.

Hell, even the Nuggets were 6th seed and lost in the 1st round in 2022. They won it all the following year in 2023. Lots can change from one season to the next.

[Jesus_H_Macy]

"we have five in the next eight years and we can trade two of 'em next month if we want" for the love of god someone stop this maniac

[kenwood3333]

Being in such a great position, fully expecting the coach to be fired.

[Twinkie defense]

Hahahaha, sure.

[Twinkie defense]

I never understood why they traded for Beal. They need a PG and would have been better off being patient and added maybe a Terry Rozier or they should have tried to acquire Fred Van Vleet before last summer.

The false promise of just throwing together some All Stars and thinking that makes a great team.

[hippesthippo]

It's super ironic that everyone is flaming the Ishbia now when they were flaming the Twolves last year who now look like championship contenders.

Last year the Twolves made a big trade for Gobert (Suns got KD and Beal), had a bunch of injuries during the season and then flamed out in the first round last year. Now everyone is jumping on the Wolves bandwagon all of a sudden.

Granted, I am a Knicks fan and not a fan of how the Suns are constructed either. But, it's not out of the realm of possibilities that they turn things around next year.

Hell, even the Nuggets were 6th seed and lost in the 1st round in 2022. They won it all the following year in 2023. Lots can change from one season to the next.

It's fair if you've been flaming Ishbia from Day 1.

[hippesthippo]

I never understood why they traded for Beal. They need a PG and would have been better off being patient and added maybe a Terry Rozier or they should have tried to acquire Fred Van Vleet before last summer.

The false promise of just throwing together some All Stars and thinking that makes a great team.

*cough* Brooklyn Nets *cough*

Somehow, Brooklyn has managed to pull off such a masterpiece not once, but twice in the last decade. Granted, the Mikhail/King era was far worse and a different type of team than the more recent COVID era rendition which more closely resemble the Suns.

Superstars win Championships, but you still have to build a functional team.