The Phoenix Suns duo of Mat Ishbia and Brian Gregory held a press conference in the Suns’ practice facility on Thursday. They discussed the team’s evolution, the overall progress made, and thanked the Suns fan base for their unwavering support.
Coming off a summer where they traded one of the world’s greatest scorers, the expectations for the Suns were low. Very low. Ishbia did not forget that and was proud to take some (deserved) victory laps. We heard them talk the talk all summer long, and boy,
was it refreshing to see them walk the walk with the results.
It’s easy to feel disappointed after getting swept. It’s human nature. But even with how things ended, it’s clear that last season was a success and a step in the right direction, given the expectations.
Mat Ishbia: We’re not done, and Booker is not getting traded.
This is just the beginning, according to Mat Ishbia. The general feel was they were pleased with how the season went, but they are hungry to keep this thing growing. It’s a process.
Ishbia reaffirmed the job that Brian Gregory has done since stepping into his GM role, despite being a relative “unknown” in the NBA world from an experience perspective.
On the prospect of trading Devin Booker: “Devin Booker is our franchise player. I love Devin Booker. Devin Booker loves being here. Our coach loves Devin Booker. Our GM loves Devin Booker. Devin Booker is going to be here. Devin Booker is going to lead us to a championship here in Phoenix. That’s what he’s going to do, and we’re going to build the right team around him. He’s going to get better, just like I’m going to get better, just like everyone is going to get better in our organization,” Ishbia said.
He is going for the SEO titling strategy with the number of times he mentioned Devin Booker in that answer.
He made sure to make that point loud and clear to kill that rumor before it gained any (legitimate) legs. We all know the national talking heads will need clicks and run the Devin Booker trade tour all summer long, but it was made as clear as day. Devin Booker is not going anywhere.
On the series vs. the Thunder: “I think what was great about watching our team and coach Ott is that Game 1 was not great. Game 2 was better. Game 3 was better. And Game 4, I mean, Games 3/4 we played really good basketball.”
Brian Gregory: We outperformed, and we are…aligned.
First-year general manager Brian Gregory went after Ishbia and said he felt they “outperformed” every situation and challenge they faced this season.
Gregory started by tipping the cap to the players, “embracing the culture” and doing what it took to be all-in on their vision of the Suns’ desired “DNA” entering the season.
The question many will ask about the future of the Suns all offseason long will revolve around the fit of Booker, Brooks, and Green as the pillars. While that’s the politically correct way to go about this, I think it’s fair for the Suns to explore all options in balancing the roster this offseason, and any significant move likely starts with Jalen Green from a contract and “position overlap” standpoint.
Ishbia went on Burns and Gambo to confirm a lot of what he said earlier and double down on his take that Devin Booker is capable of leading the Phoenix Suns to a championship.
Ishbia also went on a brief hockey tangent: “This is a four-sport town, and disappointed that we don’t have hockey here,” he said. “I support having hockey here in any way I can. I don’t have really control over that right now, but I do like hockey, and I hope Phoenix gets hockey back.
