Can Mat Ishbia earn the trust back of Suns fans with ‘undeniable’ changes? – Arizona Sports
2025-04-17T21:42:45Z
When Mat Ishbia and the new regime joined the Suns, they were viewed with a blank slate. They have not earned the right for that to be extended.
PHOENIX — A Mat Ishbia press conference will immediately tell you why he is so successful.
There is only one speed for the Phoenix Suns owner, including when he addresses the media, and that speed extended to the front office’s decisions in his first two-plus years in the position. It has earned severe criticism and skepticism, the latter of which he and the organization will have to learn how to wash off over the next few years to earn the trust back of the fanbase.
The central narrative that has been fueled by equal parts reporting and speculation is that Ishbia is the lead decision-maker in the basketball operations department. Given how much has gone wrong for Phoenix in back-to-back seasons, that makes it complicated when evaluating the front office and who is to blame.
Which is why there is an inherent desire to clear that up. An attempt of that was done on Thursday at the end-of-season media availability, aided by an improvement on the tone matching the results of the season.
Ishbia was asked about his level of involvement in the front office. As he will, Ishbia rambled through a handful of examples to try to clear up misconceptions, including an often-returned-to point that he is not the guy breaking down film of prospects, instead trusting his scouts and others in that department.
“My role is to enable. … Putting the right people in the right position to make decisions and empowering them,” Ishbia said.
He credited the front office for deciding on drafting Ryan Dunn and said it was almost “disrespectful” to give him credit or blame for certain roster decisions.
It did not answer, however, if he is the top dog leading the way still. He was asked a followup on strictly that before once again bending and weaving through those examples without giving a direct answer.
“Let me say it like this — we have a collaborative group,” Ishbia said. “I don’t think there’s an owner in the NBA that there’s a trade that goes on that that owner does not say ‘go with it’ or ‘don’t go with it.’ I’m the same way. … I’m definitely not initiating draft, trade ideas.”
While that can be true, it’s not clear how involved he is in those discussions when ideas are presented and how much he is dictating the direction those conversations go. Again, the notion of him leading things. It does not do him favors that by all accounts, Phoenix was hesitant about making the trade for Kevin Durant before it swiftly got done once Ishbia was officially in place.
As a reminder on the reporting from Feb. 2023 via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
On the direction of his new owner, Mat Ishbia, general manager James Jones texted Nets GM Sean Marks sometime after 11 p.m. ET — and it wouldn’t be long until Ishbia and Nets owner Joe Tsai had cobbled together the final elements of the blockbuster trade, sources said.
Wojnarowski’s story continues citing the Suns’ thought process throughout trade negotiations by referring to Ishbia and not Jones, such as “Ishbia’s initial hope was to keep Mikal Bridges out of the trade.”
When Ishbia was asked about the accusations of “new owner syndrome” and meddling, he denied that type of involvement.
The fate of president and CEO Josh Bartelstein and Jones was brought up, on if the two would be back in similar roles next season. Ishbia did not say if they would or wouldn’t be, before stating “changes are coming.” Bartelstein and Jones were later asked if they’ve had conversations yet with Ishbia on their roles. Both went on to describe some of their current roles while not answering if those talks happened yet.
For what it’s worth, Bartelstein shut down the notion that Ishbia is making the decisions, calling it one of “the biggest misconceptions.”
“Mat’s involvement is pushing us, asking the right questions,” Bartelstein said. “Mat hasn’t made one trade, he hasn’t told James and I one free agent to sign or one draft pick.”
These overarching contradictions are more relevant at the moment because the Suns do not have a head coach. They need to hire that guy and then make some crucial decisions and moves with the roster. But who is “they?”
Ishbia spoke with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon in March for a rare in-season interview on the basketball side of things. This included lots of Ishbia’s basketball philosophies that apply to both now and the future, as well as a teaser of what Phoenix’s plans are for the upcoming offseason.
Phoenix’s front office will again explore all sorts of potential personnel scenarios as the Suns search for solutions while operating under Ishbia’s “all-in” mandate. According to Ishbia, a “pivot and reload” around Devin Booker could be the direction the franchise chooses this summer.
Ishbia went on to speak down toward the idea of “blowing it up” and rebuilding, with MacMahon going as far to say that it’s insulting to suggest such a proposal to Ishbia.
“It’s surprising to me that other people, other fans, they actually like the rebuild process,” Ishbia said, disdain dripping from his voice as the final word of that sentence comes out of his mouth. “Like, ‘Oh, let’s rebuild it.’ Are you crazy?! You think I’m going to go for seven years and try to get there? You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we have holding? I want to try to see the game today. I want us to win today, and we’re going to try. “Although let’s say this doesn’t work, guess what? Maybe next year we won’t be as good, but we’re going to try again. The next opportunity we have, we’re going to try to win and compete. And it will work. We will win championships here in Phoenix. Might not be this year, but I promise you we are going to do it. And that’s what we’re focused on.”
Again, this is not the president of the team or the general manager of the team orchestrating these beliefs. It’s the owner.
All of this is to say it’s asking for a lot to take in all this information and believe he is not the lead decision-maker of the organization for big-picture basketball decisions. Yes, the owner will oftentimes be in a situation to offer the final yes or no on important decisions, as Ishbia said himself. This appears to be more than that.
As previously covered in this space since Ishbia’s arrival, history does not speak kindly to owners with this degree of involvement. Could Ishbia actually be good at this? Sure!
But if this upcoming season is anywhere close to sharing similarities to the previous two, this whole operation is in real trouble.
You can find yourself saying that even if this next year is another dud, Phoenix can just blow it up by trading Booker. No harm, no foul. Tried one more go and it didn’t work out again. Great. But who is in charge of that rebuild, with those assets and developing that team?
There is a trust that needs to be developed now. When this new regime came to the Valley, it was evaluated with a blank slate and good faith. They have not earned the right for that to be extended any further.
When it comes to how they can do so, Ishbia showed growth on Thursday.
He called the season “embarrassing” and admitted it was just not a fun product to watch. This is a far cry from a calendar year prior when Ishbia was rather tone deaf with his optimism after an awful end to the 2023-24 season, with some fans going as far as describing it as feeling like Ishbia was gaslighting them.
The current tone was more on the money.
“You can use whatever word you want on it but not happy with the season,” he said. “With that said, I’m here to talk to you guys and we’re going to make some changes. As the owner, my job is to make those changes and do things differently. Because what we just tried and did over the last two-and-a-half years has not been as successful as we hoped. … A lot of people thought it worked, we thought it would work, it didn’t work.”
The core message beyond that aforementioned line of changes coming is that the top one will be establishing an identity.
“I think there’s a disconnect between what we believe we should be playing like and what we actually saw on the floor,” Ishbia said. “And that’s why we made one change so far and we will make other changes to make sure that Phoenix fans know what to expect and are proud of what we have out there.”
When asked about what Ishbia wants in a new head coach, he referenced characteristics of heart, grind and toughness as desirables, more so than actual talent. That extends to the roster, to wit you will absolutely notice a new-look Suns, according to the man himself.
“It will be undeniable,” Ishbia said. “You will know the difference next year.”
Ishbia’s biggest mistake so far, per him, was not nailing that part of the process right out of the gates.
“Not running and setting the tone, an identity and kind of allowing it to go as it was going,” Ishbia said.
“I would have done a better job of hey what’s Phoenix Suns basketball looks like,” Ishbia added, before correctly pointing out other areas of the franchise outside of the basketball side that have improved on his watch.
Ishbia correcting that mistake for next season is necessary for stability, in more ways than one.
“Patience isn’t going to be my strongest suit. … I’m very patient if I think we’re on the right path and plan,” Ishbia said.
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