The Phoenix Suns are moving on from the nightmare they experienced last season. Over the summer, the team traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and agreed to buy out Bradley Beal‘s contract. This left Devin Booker as the lone star player for the Suns. Fans and experts harshly condemned the acquisition of Durant and Beal, a decision that was influenced by owner Mat Ishbia.
Ishbia wanted the Suns to contend for the championship and saw that having more than one All-Star was the path. Unfortunately for Phoenix, the star trio suffered injuries and were never together. The Big 3 only played together in 37 games last season, which prevented them from making the playoffs.
On Saturday, Ishbia appeared as a guest on “The Draymond Green Show.” During his time, he spoke about how he doesn’t regret trying to form a star trio with Booker, Durant and Beal.
“It didn’t work,” Ishbia said. “However, the mentality is we’re out here trying to win. The Phoenix Suns have never won a championship in the long history they had. It’s like, ‘Let’s go try to win. Let’s go see what we can do.’ And you know what? It didn’t work.
“And maybe I could have done things differently, but you know what? No one’s going to think that Mat Ishbia doesn’t care. No one’s going to think that he’s not spending money and trying to win. And I think that sends a message to fans and players.”
Now, Mat Ishbia and the Suns are focused on what they have. Without Durant and Beal, the team has found stability, and even role players like Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen have stepped up to help Booker. The Arizona-based team has an 11-6 record so far this season.
Mat Ishbia said that Devin Booker stayed loyal to him and the Suns
Devin Booker has been with the Suns for 11 seasons. He came close to winning the championship in 2021 with Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. Regretfully, Phoenix was unable to maintain the momentum into the following season.
Amid the drama and the unsuccessful seasons with the Suns, Booker has remained loyal to the franchise that drafted him. During Mat Ishbia’s appearance on Draymond Green’s show, he revealed that the former Kentucky guard wants to stay with the franchise.
“And so when we went through some tough times, it’d be easy after a new owner comes in, we try to spend money, we try to do things and we didn’t win,” Ishbia said. “It’d be easier for that franchise player to be like, ‘Hey man, I put my time in, I’m ready to go.’ Instead, he did the reverse,” Ishbia said. “He said, ‘Listen, I’m with you, Matt. I believe in what we’re doing. I’m all in with you. I’ll even sign an extension. I wanna be here with you. Let’s go do this.”‘
Booker has repeatedly expressed how he wants to spend his entire NBA career in Phoenix.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
