As Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia faces several looming decisions after the team missed the postseason this year, Ishbia says trading for players such as Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal did not work out.
Ishbia explained to Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday how much the organization believed in trading for those players made sense at the time.
“When we made a lot of those trades whether it was the Bradley Beal trade or the Kevin Durant trade or the (Jusuf) Nurkic, Grayson Allen trade, at the time those trades made a lot of sense,” Ishbia said. “Every aspect of them we believed in and it did not come to fruition.”
“It did not come to fruition.”
Suns owner Mat Ishbia tells @BurnsAndGambo that this iteration of the Phoenix Suns did not work.
Full link to conversation: t.co/eonSahUVp0 pic.twitter.com/3OE8adEEBQ
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) April 18, 2025
After the Suns acquired him in a blockbuster trade in 2023, Durant has been named an All-Star every season he’s been with thee team and was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2024.
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Despite Durant averaging 22.6 points (on 52.7% shooting), six rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season, the 6-foot-11 forward missed 20 games due to injury and the Suns went 3-17 in his absence.
Since being traded from the Washington Wizards in 2023, Beal has struggled to stay on the court, missing 29 games in each of the last two years with several injuries. Beal has a no-trade clause and has over $53 and $57 million respectively owed to him on his contract over the next two seasons, according to spotrac.
Ishbia declined to comment on Thursday on what Beal and Durant’s future with the team would look like.
Suns recent iteration falls short
Ishbia added that this version of the Suns did not work out a despite the belief from the organization that it would succeed and compete for championships.
“This iteration of the Phoenix Suns did not work,” Ishbia said. “I was wrong, our front office was wrong, our coaches and players were wrong because our players believed in it too. That’s why I had to go out there and talk to everyone today and say I was wrong and we’re wrong and we owe everybody an apology and we will be better.”
Ishbia said his goal for the future is finding players that are on the same page as the organization’s goal of competing for championships.
“People talk about no-trade clauses and that’s way overhyped. The truth is, we’ve got to find the people that are bought in and are aligned with us,” Ishbia said.
“If they are not bought in and aligned with what we believe in, they will not be on our team. If they are bought in and aligned, we’re gonna put our arms around them, and we’re gonna go compete together.”
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