'Just Wasn’t a Fit For What We’re Doing' – Phoenix Suns’ Owner Talks About Trading Kevin Durant to the Rockets

“Kevin Durant’s a great player, there’s no one that can ever question that,” said Ishbia during his interview with ESPN. “[But he] just wasn’t a fit for what we’re doing going forward.

“Obviously he’s had an amazing career, but he’s not a fit for what we’re gonna do going forward.”

The Phoenix Suns hit the reset button over the summer and are focused on creating a new identity. He expressed the team’s willingness to build a distinctness following the failed superteam.

“After last season, we said, ‘That old stuff that we did? It didn’t work,’” the owner said. “Let’s get it done the right way. Let’s build an identity. Let’s get alignment across the board. Let’s get on the same page, from the front office to the coaching staff, scouts, to the massage therapists … and then we go.”

Ishbia took responsibility for the Phoenix Suns’ past mistakes

When Ishbia took over the team as the majority owner, there was a significant shift in how they approached their plan to contend for a championship. Before his time, the Phoenix Suns were carefully built through the draft. Which is how the team got gems in Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson.

Chris Paul was their largest acquisition. But things changed under Ishbia’s leadership, and the Suns attempted to build a superteam. However, that failed and a lot of the blame was put on Ishbia, which he took ownership of during his time talking to the media on Wednesday.

“It starts with me and I told you I took the blame, that when I bought the team I didn’t come in and set the right identity and culture on the men’s basketball side,” Ishbia said in his opening statement.

Ishbia believes the Suns have a new identity moving forward. Though fans have yet to see how well the new roster will perform.