Bickley Blast: Is Mat Ishbia overly optimistic about the Phoenix Suns?

Bickley Blast: Is Mat Ishbia overly optimistic about the Phoenix Suns?

and Mar boings Arizona Sports the local sports leader bigley blast when it comes to optimism Matt ishia is full of it he is so positive and so frenetic that it occasionally sounds like he’s gaslighting but there is something about his last tweet that might be problematic he said quote we are competing for a championship this year because we have the team to do it now it doesn’t matter what you or I think about that statement but it does matter what his players in the locker room feel and if they think the owner has unrealistic expectations or if he’s misguided about the quality of Team he’s assembled if he’s expecting miracles for his money well that can sabotage team morale before it even begins and this is where you begin to wonder about Kevin Durant does he look at the Departed Frank mogle as the issue a head coach who did not instill much hope or accountability or does he look at the organization and say yeah this ain’t it does he look at this new team and say yeah we’re not winning a championship because really Durant has got the most on the line here he’s a guaranteed Hall of Famer often described as one of the greatest players in sports history he also knows that another championship would go a long way in shutting up his Detroit tractors the ones who erroneously think he coiled his way to the Rings he already possesses so does he really love Phoenix the basketball franchise the way he’s grown to appreciate Phoenix the lifestyle that is the question all right today’s Bly blast brought to you by my great friends at Chapman BMW make luxury attainable find them online at Chapman bmw.com and I love that people are frustrated that we didn’t win NBA championship guess what so are we we’re disappointed we wanted to win an NBA championship you know it’s one thing to win 49 games and everyone get knocked down the first round of playoffs and everyone High fiveing you that’s not what we’re going to have in Phoenix and it makes me happy so I’m actually happy where we’re at from that perspective that people are disappointed because guess what there’s not someone in the organization that’s more disappointed than me my GM my CEO my players my coach everyone’s disappointed just like the fans and guess what I’m gonna own the team for 50 years and probably 45 46 47 of those years we’ll probably have the same conversation seven championships that was back on May 1st that was actually the date Bick of the the weird press conference after the Suns got eliminated Matt ishia spoke separately from James Jones um there was no change really being announced three weeks later is when we got the the introductory press conference for Mike buen holer replacing Frank vogle but yeah the the first line of the blast today is very well done thank you thank you thank you when it comes to optimism isia is full of it it’s very very true and he is yeah and listen and the tweet that he put out in response to Stephen A Smith does include that line I used in the blast we are competing for a championship this year because we have the team to do it now you might just say well that’s what every owner would say um but but again that I’m talking about how it is perceived inside a locker room if if you’re Kevin Durant you’re looking around saying we ain’t got a shot then then that’s the kind of thing that might make you go what am I doing here now I’m just speaking yes I unlike Stephen A Smith I’m not reporting not I’m not report I’m not reporting right um this has been an interesting week especially at this point of the season for National perspective on the Suns again we’re more insulated it’s right here in our backyard it’s certainly more of an everyday following here in Phoenix than it is for a lot of these National personalities uh but wanted to share one with you and Jarrett referenced this during the rush hour reboot uh Nick Wright from Fox Sports in FS1 um has some pretty critical thoughts on the Phoenix Suns Phoenix is incredibly high on the NBA’s no clue what they’re doing with they are right now in the grasp of one of to use your buddy’s coined phrase new owner syndrome one of the worst cases of it in NBA history and because they have just put pressed the accelerator down fully for Kevin Durant made sense but was risky for Bradley Beal didn’t make sense was incredibly risky and I think now Brew is in something of denial about how close they actually are to contention that the team might view this roster Championship aspirations differently than the players on it so it wouldn’t shock me at all if Kevin Durant’s like yeah I’ve kind of always been wrestling and this is not going the way I thought it was going to go and I wouldn’t want to be here I think it would be smart if Phoenix traded Kevin Durant and accepted their reality of we’re not contending during what is left of his you know tail end of his prime but I don’t think they’re going to do it before the season because I don’t think Matt ishbel wants to accept that reality yeah that’s interesting it is interesting and again I’m not I I don’t agree with a lot of what Nick WR is saying there but I do think that this level of expectations if this isn’t just Mt ispia um speaking in optimism then then I do think that there this could be an issue this could be an issue if you as an owner are expecting something you haven’t given the team enough assets to pull off MH and and and and again I object to the new owner syndrome I understand what it is I I’ve seen examples of it there’s lots of examples of it I I think there’s a with Matt ishia and again is the money he pours into this team and blowing through tax aprons that has to be applauded okay that because this is very very rare he’s not the wealthiest owner in the NBA by a long shot no not even there’s only one other guy Steve Balmer who’s willing to do what he’s done Joe lob of golden state was doing it for a while and he finally said I I’m not spending this kind of money still way over the second apron in Golden state they’re still dealing with it there’s right because once you do this and you and you sign these players you’re inheriting this as your lifestyle for the next few years so you’ve got to you’ve got to really be okay with flushing money is when when the seasons do not pan out so so I take exception with that but I do believe that that kind of expectation can create um a little divide if if the players in that room can’t live up to the owner expectations well Nick wrright in that in sharing his thoughts and there was some interesting things in there and I don’t necessarily agree with him either but he’s he’s making the point that I’ve been making this entire off season I was just as frustrated as everybody else I can use very comfortably words like failure last year was a failure by the Phoenix Suns organization they will admit it but what people like Nick Wright and a lot of national perspectives and even some local fans are guilty of is be the most recent sample you got of something doesn’t guarantee that it’s going to be repeated right this is competition again I will point to the Boston Celtics who they’re never going to win a championship with Tatum and brown together they’re too similar well guess what they just won a championship the Minnesota Timberwolves were the team being viewed as clueless for the trade that they made with Utah to bring in Rudy gobear how many bigs do you need that’s never going to work it worked for them and they’re on the way up the Dallas Mavericks were raak over the Kohls they got Kyrie Irving and Luca donic the most unbelievably talented offensive backc Court ever they didn’t make the playoffs and a year later they’re playing for the championship I’m going to I’m I’m going to separate one of those examples from the other two because at Dallas was their their Ascension was completely related to their trade deadline Maneuvers where they significantly upgraded their front line they significantly upgraded their basketball team they did but that team still goes with that duo I do that’s the engine that drives that team right but but again when you start talking about Superstar Duos we got one as well and it didn’t take flight and the Dallas lesson is it won’t take flight until you’ve got the right group of quality players around him the Boston thing same thing you throw in you throw in Drew holiday and everything changes so but but the Minnesota thing D white yeah chring there was there was more pieces there okay the Minnesota thing I Vibe on because that was more more about Anthony Edwards continuing to grow and if that’s like Devin Booker next year then everything can change um so yeah I I do agree with you I do agree that things can CH chemistry can change overnight in the NBA it can also go away overnight we’ve seen that the hard way so I do agree with you I I don’t think it’s hopeless by any stretch of the imagination there’s so much talk almost entirely about Booker and Durant and I just keep thinking like is Bradley Beal the right third piece doesn’t matter whether he is or not he’s not going anywhere I know but I’m but that’s what I’m saying if you’re stuck with that as your third piece can you ever win because all the examples you just had you just mentioned they acquired the right third piece Drew holiday with Boston Rudy goar with Minnesota I if Point isud Rudy Gober two years ago was not considered a wise acquisition and he became one last year could Bradley Beal do that here’s the thing here’s the thing wolf has been riffing on that that I I agree with as well I just wonder if if I were in charge of this basketball team and I’m looking at Kevin Durant and I’m looking at potential trades what would appeal to me isn’t anything to do with Kevin Durant but what it does what what I would look at is the impact on Devin Booker it is very very clear to me that Devin Booker defers to Kevin Durant because that’s how Devin Booker is built if you’re of an older Devon Booker is a rare young professional athlete who actually has real respect for his Elders we saw that with Al McCoy very very clearly he’s got a sense of History you you don’t you don’t have a sense of History unless you appreciate history and you don’t appreciate history if you don’t acknowledge the people that came before you and I think he sees Kevin Durant he’s like that’s KD man it’s it’s the it’s the it’s the da thing that’s KD you believe that ain’t that something ain’t that something we got KD ain’t that something so for Devin Booker to be that dude can he be that dude with ke with Kevin Durant around and again this is not have anything to do with Kevin Durant Kevin Durant’s a very selfless generous player it has to do with how Devin Booker perceives everything around him I think there’s something to that but it doesn’t mean it has to be going forward what you what you said is 100% And I put most of my optimism on the Timberwolves example from a year ago stuff can change dramatically look at the Nuggets last year nuggets didn’t have nearly the connectivity they did during their championship year no but again that’s where I was guilty of what I just laid out there the nuggets are the defending Champions they’ve got the best player in the league in joic they’re going to win the championship again or at least get back to the Western Conference Finals things change all the time if they didn’t change why would anybody watch sports MH it it just that that’s the part that frustrates me and I’m not sitting here saying it it’s guaranteed Mike buen Holzer and his new staff have a lot of work to do to repair what was done last year but I’m not saying it can’t be done either thanks for watching Bley and marada click to see the latest Bley blast and hit the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports

Dan Bickley takes a closer look at the Phoenix Suns owner’s recent tweet and ponders if Mat Ishbia is so overly optimistic to the point of gaslighting fans.

Video: Felisa Cárdenas and Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports
Photos: Getty Images

Arizona Sports has the permission and the rights to shoot video from the NBA and the Phoenix Suns.

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