Suns owner Mat Ishbia ’embarrassed’ by 2024-25 season
At a Phoenix Suns press conference, team owner Mat Ishbia said he’s setting standards for what he expects from all coaching hires going forward.
NBA.com writer Shaun Powell provided an update on all 30 NBA teams going into training camp.
Here’s what he wrote about the Phoenix Suns, who open camp Sept. 25 at the team’s practice facility.
“The Suns finally caved to reality and pushed the reset button on their failed three-star experiment. Better late than never, at least. With (Bradley) Beal and (Kevin) Durant gone (and expectations walking out the door with them), the Suns can make peace and move forward, with incoming young talent, including center Mark Williams, pointing to a better future. It assumes that Devin Booker, even with his new, rich extension, will stick around to be a part of it.”
The Suns finished their second year of Booker, Durant and Beal together with a losing record, going 36-46 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20, which was last time they had a losing record.
They fired Mike Budenholzer after one season, replacing him with former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott, who had never been an NBA head coach.
Phoenix traded Durant to the Houston Rockets before the 2025 draft and acquired Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft who wound up being Duke 7-footer Khaman Maluach.
The Suns sent two first-round picks (2025 and 2029) and guard Vasa Micic to Charlotte for Mark Williams and a second-round selection in 2029. They bought out Beal, who signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.
NBA.com ranked Phoenix 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference in its offseason power rankings.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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