The Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The Suns went all-in and acquired Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal in 2023 on the say-so of new owner Mat Ishbia, with sources within the Suns now expressing dissatisfaction with how Ishbia is running the organization.
“It’s like looney tunes around here. It’s felt unstable since (Ishbia) arrived. He’s a good guy and everything, I think, but he’s just very involved. Too involved. I know he played (college basketball at Michigan State), but I’d venture to say he has no idea what he’s doing when it comes to basketball. Yet he’s making a lot of the big decisions.”
The source compares Ishbia's ownership style to his bitter rival, Dan Gilbert in Cleveland.
“Back in the day, the Cavs’ basketball staff would do their coaching search, and Dan would do his coaching search. He’s not like that now, from everything I know. He lets the basketball people handle that stuff. Ishbia doesn’t. He’s a pain in the (butt) to be honest.”
The lack of success for owners like Ishbia who come in way too aggressively is a pattern in NBA history that's being relived right now.
“There aren’t too many examples where a young owner comes in, gets super involved, and then the team has great success. What you usually get is where (the Suns) are now.”
Ishbia bought the Suns in early 2023 from Robert Sarver after the former owner was forced to sell the team due to a series of controversies around his ownership coming to light.
Ishbia's ownership until now has been marked with a lot of ambition but not necessarily the right execution required to win a title.
Mat Ishbia's Moves Have Failed
Ishbia is a massive upgrade as a team owner on Sarver, but that isn't a high bar to cross.
Ishbia was the driving force behind the Kevin Durant trade after GM James Jones had refused the deal multiple times before that and was also integral in the eventual acquisition of Bradley Beal. He tried to replicate the three-star model in Phoenix but targeted three scorers with similar skill sets instead of creating a balanced lineup.
Ishbia had inherited a team that had gone to the 2021 NBA Finals and won over 60 games in the 2021-22 season. He wasn't the team owner when the Mavericks beat them in the 2022 Playoffs, but the ending to that series likely convinced many people including Ishbia that their core wouldn't win a title.
Now it looks like they're further away from a title than even that 2022 roster. They have limited flexibility as they don't own a first-round pick until the end of this decade while still having to pay Bradley Beal over $160 million on a contract with a no-trade clause.
The Suns might be forced to make trades to break up their superstar trio with how expensive and unsuccessful this team was. Ishbia is an ambitious owner who loves the game of basketball, but he was excessively lackadaisical while making trades and has left his franchise completely asset-bare.
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