If there’s one person who can feel vindicated for the way this great Phoenix Suns season has unfolded, it’s owner Mat Ishbia.
Ridiculed before the start of the campaign for the Kevin Durant-era disaster, he has kept quiet and let the new roster he has assembled do the talking.
The trade deadline delay for Ishbia has worked wonders
Letting the group that already exists play basketball and not have to worry about trades or rumors has been a masterstroke, as the Suns have already won 30 games and look like a true playoff team.
Other than upgrading this one position, there has also been no trade talk around the organization around the deadline, which has been great for stability in Phoenix.
Our fans love the $2 value menu, so we’ll be adding more options in the future. Starting Sunday (our next home game), tacos and ice cream sandwiches will also be $2. We will always do what’s right for our fans here in Phoenix and invest in making this the best organization in… pic.twitter.com/yIdHarThxC
— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) January 23, 2026
Compare that to every year since Ishbia bought the franchise, and all the talk that existed off the basketball court. It started with the trade for Durant himself at the deadline.
Exciting times, and it led to an appearance in the second round of the playoffs. But that was as good as it got, and the subsequent deadlines contained unsubstantiated rumors to try to solve a problem of their own making.
Whether it was Nick Richards this time last season, or even Royce O’Neale before that, the Suns of the past two years have always been looking for solutions at this point in their campaign.
That Ishbia was happy to move on from Durant and see what he has with this team was brilliant to see, although the fact that they have exceeded all expectations certainly helps him avoid making any major changes.
We all know Giannis Antetokounmpo is available, but the Suns have never been linked to him. Jonathan Kuminga as a target has been talked about for a while, but Phoenix never overpaid for a player still in San Francisco.
It’s a more measured approach, which has also been helped by the arrival of head coach Jordan Ott. If he gets the best out of this squad, why would he do anything at all?
Perhaps the franchise will decide that Jeremy Sochan is too good to turn down, and we could see some activity in the summer once the high point of this season is behind us.
But Ishbia and the front office petting us as we begin the stretch run shows he has learned from past mistakes, and the Suns are all the better for it.
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