Analysis: Will Ishbia seek a major deal this summer?

FAN BOTS

Thank you for watching the video     Link:https://arizonasports.com/nba/phoenix-suns/suns-trades-ishbia/3619346/     Important warning⚠️⚠️   My friend, please check the accuracy of the information. The information I provide may be  incorrect, late, or outdated.    #NBANews#SunsTradeTalk#IshbiaDecision#OffseasonMoves#SunsFuture#BookerLegacy#NBA2026#PhoenixBasketball#TradeSeason#ValleyProud

Transcript

00:00Greetings, Suns fans. The landscape in Phoenix has shifted dramatically. What was once a house

00:06money, no pressure rise has now solidified into something far more serious, genuine expectations.

00:12Let's take a clear-eyed look at what next season demands, how fierce the Western Conference has

00:17become, and the delicate balance this front office must strike between patience and a franchise-altering

00:22splash. Expectations are a dangerous thing, and they have now automatically been set for the

00:27Phoenix Suns next season. Whether they like it or not, there are now actual stakes attached to their

00:33future, no more house money, no more fun surprises, no more, no one expected them to be here, thinking,

00:40barring any unforeseen events roster-wise, the Suns should be pushing for a top-six spot in the

00:45Western Conference next year, with a little more improvement, injury luck and consistency, they

00:51should have a chance to do so. Now knowing this is the bar though, how will they go about ensuring

00:56they reach it with how fierce their competition is. While a team or two always unexpectedly drops

01:01out of the race with a year from hell, the Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets and

01:05Timberwolves are not going anywhere. The Blazers and Jazz will be in the dark horse mix too, while

01:09we'll see what the Mavericks' off-season plan building around Cooper flag entails. There will

01:13be more pushes from the Clippers and Warriors, as well. That's 11 teams, a dozen if you include the Suns,

01:19will they feel the need to compensate? Careful with that, we've already seen what can happen in

01:24this large of a jump over just one season. As previously covered once the trade deadline

01:28passed in February, the 2013-14 Suns were expected to have a win total in the mid-20s before an

01:34incredible year saw it hit 48. With that came a bigger move in the following off-season that

01:39didn't work out. Isaiah, Thomas, and the whole team's dynamic shattered because of it, spiraling

01:46a sequence of events that would lead to Brandon Knight, hair salons, and oh so much more.

01:51Remember your first time backing out of a parking spot, and what the person teaching

01:56you would say in a safe, cautious tone. Easy does it here. When owner Matt Ishbia spoke last

02:02off-season, he ended by saying he will remain patient as long as things are working. A year

02:07later while speaking at exit interviews, he correctly believes things are working, and his

02:12bullet points for the summer of continuity and player development did not come across as

02:16an owner who would swing big. Our massive, massive lean is I like this team, I like where

02:21we're going, I like the direction of the organization, I like the culture that we've built, I like the

02:27identity that we have, and we're not going to do anything silly to mess that up, Ishbia said.

02:33That sounds like an owner who has learned from his past trigger finger on a desire to do something

02:38big, and instead, will continue building through patience. But. He did also say Devin Booker will

02:45lead the Suns to a championship, and that is quite frankly not going to be possible without some

02:50sizable addition of talent, and unless Phoenix hits on a 1-in-a-thousand draft pick in the next

02:55three years, the Suns will have to do so with a big-time trade. And if Ishbia once more agrees

03:01and

03:01he thinks a splash has to be made to meet that goal, this guy loves a good cannonball. The x

03:06-factor in

03:06all of this is that Booker would likely be grinning from his cabana. He has said he doesn't want to

03:10take part in a rebuild, and he's turning 30 years old the day before Halloween, all with 11 seasons

03:15under his belt already, with Booker showing signs of regression the last three years, is now the time

03:20to go, if the Suns see an opportunity they feel would bump them from plucky first-round matchup

03:26to legit contender. You could say Phoenix is in a fairly dire spot from a war chest perspective on the

03:32trade market, so why does it matter? The Suns, however, still have the assets to make,

03:37not the biggest trade of the offseason, but one of the bigger moves if they are so inclined.

03:42Tradable mid-level salaries like Dylan Brooks and Grayson Allen, with a larger salary, like Jalen

03:47Green too depending on interest, are present as the base of an offer. From there, young pieces such as

03:53Kamen Maluak, Rasheer Fleming and Oso Iguodaro can provide good value. And then on draft night,

03:58the Suns will unlock two tradable first-round picks in 2027 and 2033. The 2027 pick is double-swapped,

04:07so it's not great, but their own 2033 selection is currently untouched and holds real weight,

04:13they'll have three second-rounders. No, 47 this year, plus, their own in 2029 and 2033. It's not a lot,

04:23but if the green goblin mask starts cackling at Ishbia across a usual explosive NBA offseason,

04:30there will be phone calls he can make, while Giannis Antetokou pom-ba-in-so-ba-head-dye-sij-dlain

04:37-sen-nan-in-dain-shows-so-dew-dain-in-dum-man.

04:44Phoenix wouldn't even be able to field a competitive offer in the event he was willing to go to any

04:48destination, so no need to spend any brainpower on that. Other star-studded names will still be

04:53around. Most notably, flawed ones. It sure seems like Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies are

04:58splitting. He's got two years and $86 million left on his max rookie extension. An albatross

05:03considering he's played 79 games in three years, while showing immense regression when he was able

05:10to get on the court. Zion Williamson is on the same contract, but with non-guarantees that are

05:15riddled with incentives, both he and Morant don't figure to yield much of a return for the New Orleans

05:20Pelicans or Memphis, and it would be more about just ending the experiment. Williamson quietly played

05:25in 62 games this year, although he was not nearly the dominant force he was in years prior. Both guys,

05:31in theory, fill a need. Morant would be the lead playmaker Booker has been missing since Chris Paul

05:37was traded, while Williamson is the type of powerful downhill athlete Phoenix has been lacking in the wing

05:42forward rotation. For many years now, there are also a few up-in-the-air off-seasons for a few

05:47aging big names like Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving and Warriors

05:52forward Draymond Green to monitor. Then, there's the possibility of a far more fan-friendly pursuit.

05:59The Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks are coming off muddled regular seasons with sketchy beginnings

06:03to the postseason. Perhaps one or both make deep runs to nullify the chances of them making a large

06:08shift to their roster, but if things keep trending this way, their current dilemmas are progressing

06:13toward the idea of trading Cam Johnson and McCall Bridges. Johnson has been okay for Denver. So,

06:19in other words, not good enough. He was seen as an upgrade over Michael Porter Jr., and instead,

06:24Porter ripped off a career year while Johnson battled through injuries and inconsistency.

06:29Johnson hasn't been able to translate his terrific productivity toward the end of his Brooklyn tenure,

06:33not rising to the level of a serious tertiary scorer alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

06:38For the Nuggets, his consistent impact goes more in line with how he performed in his last year with

06:42the Suns. To be clear, Johnson has improved loads since then. The fit, though, hasn't clicked in the

06:47way almost everyone expected. Basketball is just like that sometimes. The Nuggets are expected to

06:52extend restricted free agent Peyton Watson after his breakout season, which was not in the cards at

06:57all when Johnson was acquired. Johnson is on a $23 million expiring, so that potential extension now

07:03looks unlikely for a cheapskate ownership group that could look to get value for him.

07:08Bridges has also regressed considerably back to his earlier days in Phoenix, when his offensive

07:12impact would randomly wane game by game. It's genuinely shocking considering how much better

07:17he got in Brooklyn as a three-level scorer, and even in his last two years with the Suns,

07:22he's back to fading out of games offensively, and even more surprising, has been a hit-or-miss

07:27defender. Maybe it's just the pressure of living up to the five first-round picks he was traded for,

07:32plus the weight of the spotlight New York can put on a guy. Whatever it is, Bridges has become the

07:37primary target for blame, through a sluggish Knicks season, and next season kicks off his

07:42four-year $150 million extension, that currently is a big overpay unless he can snap out of whatever

07:47the hell is going on. Both play for franchises looking to win a title next season so the Suns

07:52offers would have to help with that more than anything, but by taking in either player,

07:56they'd be helping too. It goes without saying either guy is exactly the type of wing the Suns

08:01lack, and you'd assume getting back to a comfortable city and partnership with Booker would get their

08:05careers back on track. Of course, there's still risk to trading for either twin with how the last

08:11year has gone for each. It's not exclusive to that pair, or those two teams. Other playoff teams like

08:18Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Minnesota, Orlando and Toronto could look for a shake-up the Suns swoop in on.

08:24There are other lower-tiered targets that would still be of the same thought process,

08:29meaning it's probably best to avoid the splashier moves. Jeremy Grant has two years and $80 million

08:34to go on his contract after a solid year for Portland. Jonathan Kaminga, a long-rumored

08:39point of fascination for Phoenix's front office, has a $24.3 million team option for next season in

08:45Atlanta. Like those earlier names, either guy presumably requires a real asset from the Suns

08:50beyond the player return, whether it's one of the few younger players Phoenix has left

08:54or one of its two tradable first-round picks on draft night. Realistically, smaller moves should

09:00be of mind. The only major, roster-shifting trade to seek out would be moving one of Brooks or Green,

09:06but that would be less about the return and more about rebalancing the dynamic of the offense to

09:11maximize Booker. It would be shocking if that was of interest to the front office, one that will still

09:16be enamored by Green's potential after a lost year due to injury, and one allured by the intangibles

09:22Brooks provided throughout the year. Suns GM Brian Gregory said the front office 100% believes the

09:28trio will figure it out with more time together, and credited the self-awareness of all three to

09:32be critical of their own games, to improve where they have to. So how about something in a more

09:37condensed vein? Is there a team out there willing to part with a pick in the back half of the

09:41first

09:41round in exchange for some shooting? Allen or Royce O'Neal could help several contenders next season.

09:47The Suns' size issues in part have to do with finding both guys the playing time they deserve,

09:51and that'll be a huge problem again if all three of Booker, Brooks, and Green are back.

09:56Cleaning up the rotation by subtracting one guy while adding another young player with a proper

10:00physical profile as a bigger wing or forward would be tidy work. Possibilities in that portion of the

10:06draft include Houston's Chris Cenac Jr., Texas's Daylene Swain, Alabama's Amari Allen, Michigan's

10:15Moraes Johnson Jr., and Arizona's Coa Pete. This would be more in line with rebuilding, but is the

10:21type of shift the roster has to consider. That's just one example of exactly how the Suns need to

10:27upgrade their roster. It's understandable how delicate they say they will be about it, but they

10:32still have to be bold at the same time to try to tinker and change something that was indeed successful,

10:37just not, you know, too bold. So now the question is yours. With the pressure to climb into true

10:45contention and the assets to make something happen, do you believe the Suns should trust the patient,

10:50continuity first approach, or is this the summer to push the chips in and finally bring a championship

10:55to the valley?

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended