Mat Ishbia makes two bold predictions about the Suns

Mat Ishbia is calling his shots (plural) ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season.

The Phoenix Suns owner Ishbia appeared this week on CNBC Sport. During the interview, Ishbia previewed the coming season for his team and made two bold predictions.

“I believe that we have a team that can get there,” said Ishbia. “As in, we’re going to make the playoffs, we’re going to win a first [round] playoff series.

“We’re on this trajectory,” Ishbia added. “We’re an ascending young team getting better every day, and we have a superstar in Devin Booker who we’re gonna continue to build around.”

Ishbia might not be too far off as the Suns already exceeded expectations significantly last season. Though very few believed in their team after they parted ways with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal and instead surrounded Booker with role players, the Suns went 45-37 and clinched an outright top-six playoff seed.

While Phoenix did get swept in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the foundation certainly appears to be there for them. As for Isbhia, who has owned the Suns since 2023, this marks the same kind of competitive mindset that once led him to decry tanking teams as “losers.”