The owner of the Suns talks about the busiest summer in the franchise's history: "We feel good about it"

Following the Kevin Durant trade by the Suns and the buyout agreement with Bradley Beal, team owner Mat Ishbia admitted that he may have made a mistake in taking over the franchise two years ago and immediately spending money and dispersing draft picks to create an expensive and unbalanced roster.

"The most important thing I learned is that you have to start with a vision and an identity from day one, and I didn't do that with the Phoenix Suns," Ishbia said during an interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Thursday, as reported by Duane Rankin from The Arizona Republic. "I thought, 'Hey, let's invest more money. They already have something good going on. Let's leverage some resources, and it will only get better,' and that's not how it works.

"... Everyone has to be aligned with what we're doing here in Phoenix, and we didn't do that well enough. It's my fault. I take responsibility for it."

"Alignment" has been a recurring theme for Ishbia and the Suns this summer as they've made changes in the team's management and hired a new head coach for the third consecutive season.

Ishbia stated during his appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio that he and the new general manager Brian Gregory are "completely aligned with what we're trying to accomplish," and he emphasized "alignment" again when explaining why he doesn't feel pressure to ensure that star guard Devin Booker remains happy in the upcoming years.

"Devin will be happy because we're going to try to win," the Suns owner said, as reported by Rankin. "We're going to do things that align with the vision and identity he's 1000% on board with and that I'm 1000% on board with, along with our GM (Gregory) and our coach (Jordan Ott). The alignment between the owner, GM, coach, and franchise player has never existed before, to be clear. Now it exists, and it's very clear."

According to Ishbia, the Suns are committed to building "the right way" for the long term, focusing this summer on adding "more young and promising talent" while creating more salary cap flexibility for the future.

Other topics addressed by Ishbia

On Beal's departure: "He's a great guy. But he doesn't fit in the future plans of the Phoenix Suns. We told him that. We made that decision. We let them know that we wanted to move forward without him. That doesn't mean he's a bad person. It doesn't mean he's a bad player... He's a great player, but for Phoenix and what we're doing, it didn't align, and we had to move on and make those decisions."

On why the Suns hired Ott as head coach: "We needed to get a coach who's thinking ahead and not looking back. Who's not looking at what worked in 2020 but what's going to work in 2030. What's the future? Jordan Ott has an incredible basketball mind. Everyone we consulted praised him, all possible references, and so far, we're very pleased with him. He's young, he's going to build with our team, and we hope he can be a great coach for the Phoenix Suns in the future."

Regarding Khaman Maluach, the tenth overall pick: "We're excited about Maluach. However, he's 18 years old. People have unrealistic expectations. He's 18 years old. I have a 14-year-old son. He's four years older. He's still a kid and will develop. It will take some time, but we love what he brings and believe he can be a very influential player."

On the return in the big Durant trade: "We wanted Jalen Green, let's make that clear. We like Jalen. He's 23, the top scorer for the Western Conference runners-up, and Dillon Brooks is a fighter. He's the kind of player we want here in Phoenix. If he's not on your team, you probably don't like him, but I'm telling you. ... He plays defense against the best player. He's great alongside Booker. If you put Jalen Green with Booker, we feel good about that."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El dueño de los Suns habla del verano más movido de la historia de la franquicia: "Nos sentimos bien con eso"