The Phoenix Suns made one of the biggest trades in franchise history. Outside of adding Charles Barkley, no other move was as impactful and significant as acquiring a superstar like Kevin Durant.
Needless to say, losing a budding star like Mikal Bridges was a big blow for the Suns, not to mention the future Draft picks. But owner Mat Ishbia wanted to make a statement in his first year on the job, and he sure did it.
Now, the business mogul wants his team to live up to those very same standards. He knows it won’t be easy, but he’s determined to turn the Phoenix Suns into the NBA’s latest and greatest dynasty.
Suns Owner Says He Wants To Build A Dynasty
(Transcript via Sports Illustrated)
“I think there is no risk. I don’t look at it as a risk at all. I look at it as a vision and a decision. And you go with your decisions and you run with it. It doesn’t mean everything’s going to work out or that we’re going to win multiple championships and you know it was right. You have to play the games.
(…) The vision is not, ‘Let’s win a championship.’ Of course we’d like to. But the vision is, ‘We’re going to be the leading franchise in the NBA.
How do we do that?’ We have to have a culture of winning. We have got to make sure the fans love it. We’re doing great in the community. We’ve got to do great there. This is not about just winning this year. ‘We’re going to win again in ’27 and ’29 and ’31. We’re going to try to win all the time. I’m not into the planning to win phase, I’m in the let’s win today phase and let’s win tomorrow phase. And you can’t always do it, but you’re going to try.”
So, the boss has spoken, and the pressure is on. Of course, Kevin Durant might not be around the team in 2029 and 2031, but it’ll be up to him, Chris Paul, and Devin Booker to set the standard and put the building blocks of this new dynasty.