"It's like Looney Tunes around here" - A Suns source reveals how chaotic the organization is under new owner Mat Ishbia

[Yuma]

He's traded away all our picks for old players.
He did the same with the Mercury.

Who did what with the Mercury?

 

[gimpy]

Sorry, still a little upset about the Suns and what is happening with them since Ishbia has purchased them.
I think back in February there was an article in the Sporting News that detailed a trade for a player named Copper where we gave up a couple of firsts and more.

"
Mercury receive:

• Kahleah Copper
• Morgan Bertsch

Sky receive:

• Michaela Onyenwere
• Brianna Turner
• 2024 first-round pick (No. 3 overall)
• 2025 second-round pick (returned to Chicago)
• 2026 first-round pick
• Right to second-round pick swap in 2026"

Any way, I was a little upset. Sorry for my rant.

You can probably find the article, or I can look for it again and post it. I think there are probably a few other places that also reported it.

 

[CardNots]

Like the Cardinals, we cannot control ownership.

What we can hope for is the Suns hire a good GM and Ishbia gives him the flexibility to make decisions, including hiring a new head coach that has a plan for the future.

Hire Colangelo and dig up Cotton.

 

[Mainstreet]

Hire Colangelo and dig up Cotton.

They could be figureheads. I do miss the out front honesty of Cotton Fitzsimmons.

I wish Jerry hadn't sold the team.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Agreed. I meant more of an established or proven guy (or as you say a hot new thing).

Got it. I don’t think we can afford to go the established route. No more retreads at gm or coach. Unless it’s jerry wests old bones.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I know he blew the 2020 draft...but the cam Johnson pick was a good one...I do hope that we adopt the Nuggets model of trying! I find athletic wings in the late first early second round

I flip flop on cam Johnson these days. When we drafted him I was horrified at the reach. He then proved me wrong and got me excited. But he’s essentially the same player that he was coming into the draft at age 23. His minutes have ebbed and flowed but his rookie year he averaged like 9/3/1.5 and last season he averaged 13/4/2. Each season is close to those ranges and his percentages show the same. All while averaging a paltry 56.6 games played per season over five seasons due to injuries (high being 66 in a season). So while he was a legit nba player, was he really a “find?” Had we stayed at 6 coby white, rui hachimura and Jackson Hayes likely end up worthwhile picks. And after cam was taken at 11 we could have drafted pj Washington, TYLER HERRO, nikiel Alexander walker, Brandon Clarke, grant wilkiams, Jordan poole, nik claxton, Daniel gafford, taken horten-Tucker, or Terrance Mann. All of whom are around similar or better talents.

 

[Covert Rain]

They could be figureheads. I do miss the out front honesty of Cotton Fitzsimmons.

I wish Jerry hadn't sold the team.

Yep, I miss Cotton the personality, person and commentator. I don't miss Cotton the coach. He wasn't good.

 

[Superbone]

I wish Jerry hadn't sold the team.

I'm sure he does too. He has 2.2 billion reasons.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

Two most important traits in an ideal NBA franchise owner:
1. Desperately wants to win.
2. Money is no object.

If I had the first pick in the NBA owner draft, I'd run to the podium to take Ishbia.

3. Stays out of roster decisions.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

Correct. The nets won 32 games. The wizards won 15 games. We won 17 and 34 more games than each. Swaps aren’t likely with them unless we blow it up or have dramatic injuries.

The only swap that has teeth is the magic and I believe they only have one.

Basically that just reiterates the previous comment that the Suns won't see a pic inside of 20 for many years, because if they tank the swaps become valuable to the other teams and if they stay mid, then their own pics will be too high. 1st round exit purgatory is on the horizon.

 

[CardNots]

Basically that just reiterates the previous comment that the Suns won't see a pic inside of 20 for many years, because if they tank the swaps become valuable to the other teams and if they stay mid, then their own pics will be too high. 1st round exit purgatory is on the horizon.

We could have easily missed the playoffs altogether.

Both the Spurs and Rockets will be pushing us down the ladder next season.

We will be fortunate to have a first round exit

 

[Yuma]

Sorry, still a little upset about the Suns and what is happening with them since Ishbia has purchased them.
I think back in February there was an article in the Sporting News that detailed a trade for a player named Copper where we gave up a couple of firsts and more.

"
Mercury receive:

• Kahleah Copper
• Morgan Bertsch

Sky receive:

• Michaela Onyenwere
• Brianna Turner
• 2024 first-round pick (No. 3 overall)
• 2025 second-round pick (returned to Chicago)
• 2026 first-round pick
• Right to second-round pick swap in 2026"

Any way, I was a little upset. Sorry for my rant.

You can probably find the article, or I can look for it again and post it. I think there are probably a few other places that also reported it.

Interesting. Different GM. Some insight on the trade of the number three pick. We had our sights on a particular player, U'ren makes the trade for Copper, and then a day or two later it comes out the lady we wanted is staying in school. It looked at the time like U'ren had really done his homework. There is some urgency to win one more while Taurasi is here. She is definitely no spring chicken. I like Copper. It's also not as much as they gave up for Durant. They have to do something because they are like the Suns, athleticism and ball handling are weaknesses on this team.

I was just interested in how the Mercury were taking the same tack as the Suns. I can see what you see when it's played out that way. I do expect the Mercury will be a destination now due to having their own facilities, which is the first of it's kind in the WNBA.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I flip flop on cam Johnson these days. When we drafted him I was horrified at the reach. He then proved me wrong and got me excited. But he’s essentially the same player that he was coming into the draft at age 23. His minutes have ebbed and flowed but his rookie year he averaged like 9/3/1.5 and last season he averaged 13/4/2. Each season is close to those ranges and his percentages show the same. All while averaging a paltry 56.6 games played per season over five seasons due to injuries (high being 66 in a season). So while he was a legit nba player, was he really a “find?” Had we stayed at 6 coby white, rui hachimura and Jackson Hayes likely end up worthwhile picks. And after cam was taken at 11 we could have drafted pj Washington, TYLER HERRO, nikiel Alexander walker, Brandon Clarke, grant wilkiams, Jordan poole, nik claxton, Daniel gafford, taken horten-Tucker, or Terrance Mann. All of whom are around similar or better talents.

Curious, is there a reason you have Tyler Herro in all caps in that list? I was hopeful Phoenix would end up with Brandon Clarke somehow (he's from Vancouver!), because he would have been a great fit as a higher floor lower ceiling guy who will do the dirty work on that team.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Curious, is there a reason you have Tyler Herro in all caps in that list? I was hopeful Phoenix would end up with Brandon Clarke somehow (he's from Vancouver!), because he would have been a great fit as a higher floor lower ceiling guy who will do the dirty work on that team.

I think he’s the best player in the group. But Claxton and gafford have really grown into valuable players.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

I don't know if this link comes through...but if you have TikTok I can share this with you there, if you DM me @ColdPickleNachos.

Basically these guys are doing some digging on Ishbia within his mortgage business and connecting dots with Isaiah Thomas and his continued involvement with Ishbia in mortgage business and Suns.

It's actually kinda gross that Ishbia keeps Thomas around in his inner circle.

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Phrazbit]

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Their heads are stuffed so far up their own butts that they don't even understand the problem, much less how to solve it.

 

[Cheesebeef]

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Their heads are stuffed so far up their own butts that they don't even understand the problem, much less how to solve it.

WTF is this moron talking about?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

WTF is this moron talking about?

Big oof.

I thought the Durant trade was poor at the time due to the amount of first round picks that it has, and it is looking to be true. This big 3 would have had a chance in the 2000s, not with the way the game is spread out and played now. The Suns are demonstrably worse than before all of the trades, and now their future looks bleak.

With that said though, I definitely appreciate the 2000 Diamondbacks approach to try and win it all.

 

[Phrazbit]

WTF is this moron talking about?

Maybe that quote is an effort to stroke Durant's fragile ego because they fear he's going to want out, which is a possibility.

But, generally, they're in total denial.

It's like the season never happened and they are arguing with the doubters from a year ago.

 

[Raindog]

WTF is this moron talking about?

Don't you know? Durant's best years are still ahead of him, according to JJ. He probably won't even hit his prime until 38 or 39. Then we can sign a 45 year old Lebron and never have to worry about the draft again.

It's James Jones' dream scenario - he can sleep in every NBA draft day.

 

[GatorAZ]

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Their heads are stuffed so far up their own butts that they don't even understand the problem, much less how to solve it.

James Jones sounds like he’s being held hostage given the things he’s saying.

 

[CardNots]

Jones’s comments on Durant explains everything I need to know

 

[Yuma]

WTF is this moron talking about?

Golden State figured it out. Two Finals MVPs looks like they solved the code...

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Golden State figured it out. Two Finals MVPs looks like they solved the code...

Their big 3 (Curry, Thompson spread the floor shooting 3s) Nobody but Booker really could go hot from 3 to change a game like Curry/Thompson could. Even that is a stretch for Book.

 

[Sunburn]

3. Stays out of roster decisions.

If trying too hard to win a championship is his biggest flaw, we're going to be just fine.

I'll plant my flag. We're going to look back and say Ishbia was one of the best things to ever happen to this franchise.