Mat Ishbia has done amazing things for the organization, but in the realm of roster construction, too much involvement isn’t always the best thing.
When you get swept in the First Round of the NBA playoffs, you start to hear the whispers. Whispers of what went wrong. Whispers of who to blame. Whispers of those who were unhappy. Whispers of what they were unhappy about.
A day after the Phoenix Suns were elimainetd from the postseason in an embarrassing fashion, swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the whispers are becoming louder. A team with so much talent became just the third team to ever sit at the sixth seed and leave the postseason with 0 wins in their pocket.
How many times has the #3 seed swept the #6 seed in the First Round of the playoffs?
2004: Spurs over Grizzlies
2021: Bucks over Heat
2024: Wolves over Suns— John Voita (@DarthVoita) April 29, 2024
Phoenix possesses so much top-end talent as a result of the free reign James Jones has been given since the arrival of Mat Ishbia. Yet that talent failed to garner any playoff wins in 2024. Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal — who were surrounded by quality players in Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon, and Royce O’Neale — had as many wins in the 2024 postseason as you and I. Combined.
It is safe to say that this season was a disappointment and an utter failure on numerous fronts. The team lacked cohesion and grit, accountability and give-a-shit. Their performance in the postseason has once again made the Phoenix Suns the laughing stock of the NBA universe. And those are hot whispers. They are point-and-laugh roars coming from every corner of the league.
The team experienced their third-ever sweep in a four-game series and their fifth overall as a franchise. With the third-highest payroll in the league.
How many times have the Suns been swept in a four game series?
1982 Second Round vs Lakers
1989 WCF vs Lakers
2024 First Round vs WolvesThey were also swept:
1978 First Round vs Bucks (0-2)
1985 First Round vs Lakers (0-3)The Suns have swept their opponent 5 times
— John Voita (@DarthVoita) April 29, 2024
We return to the internal whispers.
Mat Ishbia has done nothing but stack wins since taking over the organization. It isn’t hard to do, given how low the bar was set prior to his arrival. Robert Sarver was a misogynistic penny-pincher, among numerous other things. No one could one could limbo under the bar he left. Ishbia could bunny hop over it, and he did. Easily.
On day one, Ishbia brought a future hall of fame to the team in Kevin Durant. We applauded his ability to fulfill the rumors from the previous summer. Pairing KD with Devin Booker was sure to give Phoenix a one-up on any team they faced.
While the team petered out in the 2023 playoffs, losing in six games to the eventual NBA Champion Denver Nuggets, we understood why. The team undercut their depth in an effort to obtain Durant, and ultimately it cost them a chance at a title.
The offseason saw more wins for Ishbia. He took the team off of cable and Bally Sports and into the hands of the local fanbase, putting them on Arizona Family 3TV. He bought TV antennas for fans so they could watch their team. He invested money in the Phoenix Mercury with a new multi-million dollar training facility. He changed the team’s approach to the food and beverage offerings inside the Footprint Center.
Win. Win. Win. Win.
He green-lighted a trade with the Washington Wizards for three-time All-Star Bradley Beal.
Pause.
While everything Ishbia has done around the Phoenix Suns has enhanced the overall experience for the fanbase (outside of piping the DE-FESNE chants inside the arena. Please dear God, make that stop), the actual construction of the roster has been questionable at best. Bradley Beal, who came to Phoenix with a no-trade clause in his contract, was essentially an older Devin Booker in the Eastern Conference. How he was on our team?
This move was made after the Suns, a team that had won 64 games in 2022, had blown up the organic chemistry of their young core to acquire an aging Kevin Durant. Both of these moves have one thing in common: they decimated the Suns’ future. The team has followed an eerily similar path as the 1993 team that went to the NBA Finals.
History has repeated itself. pic.twitter.com/dnGS2VneiM
— John Voita (@DarthVoita) April 29, 2024
What did James Jones and Mat Ishbia give up to acquire Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal?
- Mikal Bridges
- Cameron Johnson
- Chris Paul
- Jae Crowder
- Landry Shamet
- 2023 1st (unprotected)
- 2024 1st (swap)
- 2024 2nd
- 2025 1st (unprotected)
- 2026 1st (swap)
- 2026 2nd
- 2027 1st (unprotected)
- 2027 2nd
- 2028 1st (swap)
- 2028 1st (swap)
- 2029 1st (unprotected)
- 2030 1st (swap)
- 2030 2nd
What did they get? 0 postseason wins in 2024.
You could say, “Yeah, well, this is a two-year window for the Suns,” especially considering that Durant will be on the last year of his contract during the 2024-25 season. And you’d be correct. It is probably why the Suns will run it back next season.
But again, there are the whispers.
The reviews are mixed as to the success level of Mat Ishbia as it pertains to roster construction. Now the whispers are coming out and the reality of the inner workings of the Suns are coming to light.
From Hoops Wire:
“It’s like looney tunes around here,” the Suns source told Hoops Wire. “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 went on to compare Ishbia’s ownership to the ownership of Dan Gilbert with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early 2000s. Gilbert is also a Michigan State product — though he and Ishbia own competing mortgage companies and reportedly don’t speak at league owners’ meetings, or really, any other time. They’re said not to like each other.
“Back in the day, the Cavs’ basketball staff would do their coaching search, and Dan would do his coaching search,” the source said. “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.”
“New owner syndrome” is what The Ringer’s Bill Simmons calls it. You come in, want to make a mark and put your stamp on a franchise, and in the process, you put yourself years behind. In essence, that is what is happening with the Phoenix Suns.
Ishbia has done amazing things for this organization, but in the world of roster construction, he did not let James Jones stay the course or execute his vision. And now there isn’t much room to do so. There isn’t much vision left. There aren’t many outs.
What will Phoenix do this offseason? What can they do? If there is any merit to the Looney Tunes comments, the hope is that Ishbia takes a step back from roster conversations and allows James Jones to try to figure this thing out. If he can.
Because if not, “Th-th-th-that’s all folks!”