Bill Simmons shares distressing rumor about Suns

On his eponymous podcast, Bill Simmons suggested that Thomas was Ishbia's "consigliere, for some reason, but we're all pretending he's not."

The "consigliere" is the right hand man of a Mafia boss, like Tom Hagen in "The Godfather," who gives advice on the boss' decisions. 

Thomas already sits on the board of directors for United Wholesale Mortgage, Ishbia's home mortgage company. According to Simmons, Thomas was also FaceTiming into Ishbia's meetings with prospective head coaches.

"Might have been a coach interview...or two...or more, on FaceTime in the meeting," Simmons told Zach Lowe of the process that resulted in Phoenix hiring new head coach Jordan Ott.

Thomas may not be officially employed by the Suns, but the idea that he is influencing Ishbia is not a new one. 

In 2023, when the Suns traded Chris Paul as part of the Bradley Beal deal, Paul blamed the Hall of Fame guard for the move, repeatedly telling Sopan Deb of the New York Times that "Mat and Isiah" wanted to go in a different direction with the team.

The moves Ishbia has made echo some of the trades Thomas made as the New York Knicks president of basketball operations. Within two weeks of his hire, he traded multiple first-round picks for Stephon Marbury, who, like Beal, put up a lot of big statistics for losing teams.

One year later, Thomas traded two future lottery picks for Eddy Curry. Those picks turned into LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah. Curry had one good season in New York before issues with his health and weight effectively ended his NBA career at age 25. Thomas also traded 20-year-old Trevor Ariza for a washed-up Steve Francis in 2006. Francis would play 68 games for the Knicks, while Ariza would play 16 more seasons in the NBA.

The Ishbia-led Suns have been even more reckless with draft picks. They traded four unprotected first-round picks and a swap, plus forwards Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, to get Kevin Durant. To get Beal, the Suns traded Paul, plus four first-round pick swaps and six second-round picks.

How did mortgaging the future work for Thomas with the Knicks? They made the playoffs only once, with a 39-43 record, getting swept in the first round in 2004.

Since Ishbia took over in Phoenix, a Suns team that made the NBA Finals in 2021 and won 64 games in 2021-22 has dropped to 36-46. They got swept in the first round last season and missed the playoffs entirely this year. Their No. 10 pick belongs to the Houston Rockets.

Perhaps more troubling is Thomas' history as a boss. The Knicks' ownership settled with a former employee for $11.5M following her claims that Thomas sexually harassed her; he has maintained his innocence.

That situation is even more troubling since Ishbia only owns the Suns because former owner Robert Sarver was pressured to sell after many reports of sexist, misogynistic behavior.

Ishbia may be concerned about the public perception of Thomas, both due to his basketball decisions and his alleged behavior. But as long as Thomas remains Ishbia's secret consigliere, it's hard to expect things to improve in Phoenix, especially when Ishbia promised to be "extremely active" going forward.

Thomas is not the answer for the Suns. That information is far from a secret.