THE ANATOMY OF A COLLAPSE

THE ANATOMY OF A COLLAPSE

matt Isbia going superstar hunting phoenix acquiring all-star guard Bradley Beal for a package that includes future Hall of Famer Chris Paul my initial reaction was immediately why are we doing this he’s gotten Kevin Durant Bradley Beal in his first four months that path even as high risk and high wire as it’s looking like it’s going to be was too tanalyzing to turn down the Phoenix Suns with this victory should be the favorite of coming out of the West and winning next year’s title give the Suns one dynamite roster the best team in the NBA i don’t want to hear that this is a big all in this is the best team in basketball [Music] let’s run a quick thought experiment odds are if you’re watching this you’re a diehard basketball fan the kind of person who treats the back of a trading card like a scripture and drones on for hours about connective passers imagine that love of the game pure obsessive grassroots led you to a fortune and one day you finally buy that basketball team you’ve got final say over trades draft picks roster construction direction everything and let’s make it more interesting the team you bought isn’t a bottom feeder they’re two years removed from the finals a contender only a couple moves away from the mountaintop so now the question what do you do do you stand pat let the proven decision makers keep doing their thing or do you step in put your stamp on it finally shape a team the way you always dreamed most of us think that we’d play it cool be a level-headed outsider with a sharp eye and a patient hand but truthfully a lot of us would get trigger happy we’d want to see our guys in our jerseys the ones we always believed in the ones that felt right all right thought experiment over time to introduce Matt Ishbia that’s the trajectory if you’re Matt Ishbia that you are on right now being recognized as arguably the worst owner in the history of basketball ishbia is a longtime basketball enthusiast who played at Michigan State as a walk-on he learned under Tom ISO watched Matine Cleaves lead the Spartans to a title he had seen greatness up close been a part of sharpening it in the practice gym now he wanted to construct it and in time he’d amassed the money to do so finally in 2023 the Phoenix Suns went up for sale and Ishbio was waiting ready with his checkbook the deal was made the dotted line signed and that college kid who studied brilliance from a distance was ready to cultivate it himself and he was coming to the table with a fresh perspective a young mind and the blissful arrogance of someone who had never been burned by the fire he was now playing with no anxiety or jaded pessimism just wideeyed optimism and endless energy what could go wrong [Music] [Music] the sale of the Suns went through on February 7th by February 9th Ishbia orchestrated his first blockbuster deal phoenix sent Cam Johnson Muel Bridges and Jay Crowder to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant it was a sizable hall for the Nets a pair of young two-way wings still on their way up and a steady proven vet but this one was a no-brainer the exact kind of home run swing the organization was looking for without having to break the bank or mortgage the future katie would need some time to fully recover from a couple injuries but this was a postseason move the training staff would give the star all the time he needed as they geared up for their third deep playoff run in as many years he returned in time for eight regular season warm-up games before the knockout round started and right away that team was happy to have the Slim Reaper lurking on the wing durant never scored less than 25 in the five-game series against the Clippers giving the Suns the right to play the Nuggets in round two the Jokic and Murray twoman game picked Phoenix apart in Denver then Booker and Durant put on a jaw-dropping display of shotmaking back in Arizona two consecutive masterpieces from their dueling flamethrowers even the series and injected the desert with a new wave of enthusiasm unfortunately Nicola Joic would go on to cement himself as the best player in the world and end the Sun’s first season under new ownership with the man who bought them sitting courtside any second round loss would be seen as a disappointment in the eyes of someone as ambitious as Ishbia but this wasn’t just a second round loss it was the second consecutive blowout loss in an elimination game on their home floor that coupled with rumors of a feud with DeAndre Aan was enough for Monty Williams to be shown the door in his place they’d go on to hire Frank Fogle a defensive architect with a ring from the bubble and a rich history of playoff success in Indiana next up was roster recalibration the first order of business was to assess Chris Paul’s contributions the point guard was turning 38 and while his game had aged well up until that point Father Time was undefeated he missed four of the team’s 11 playoff games and in the ones he did play Paul struggled to score the ball efficiently that said the team needed a point guard and CP3’s contract was going to be a difficult one to deal finding any star with a matching salary would be a tall task in its own right finding one that fit within the cap restrictions and filling the playmaking niche they were looking for felt downright impossible conventional team management principles would tell you to sit tight stay calm and wait for the right opportunity to come your way conventional team management principles were not applied here [Music] instead the Suns called up the Wizards and made a deal to bring Bradley Beal to Phoenix in the right situation with a strong defensive infrastructure around him and a reliable playmaker to get him the ball in his spots beal was a bonafide bucket getter a shooter so pure he averaged 31 points a game only 2 years ago but there was no playmaker here there was no defensive cornerstones behind him and worst of all they handed Washington more assets than the actual Treasury the logic was clear build a super team a squad so talented that role players were insignificant and fit hardly mattered like the Warriors and the Heat before them matt Ishbia was just following the model that had dominated the league for the past decade but in a few days that model would be outdated on July 1st just a week after Bradley Beal’s trade was finalized the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement went into place we’ll spare you the financial jargon and the endless stipulations to half-hazardly summarize one intimidating paper monster the days of light luxury tax penalties were over exceeding the cap didn’t just handcuff teams anymore it threw them in a highsecurity prison at this point the more sharpeyed analysts started ringing the alarm bells words like new owner syndrome were being tossed around talk shows were publicly doubting the decision-making process in Arizona and the entire country raised an eyebrow wondering if this was the work of a short-sighted billionaire or a mad genius but before his basketball IQ was put on trial the former Spartan had a couple more moves to make cameron Payne the steady backup floor general with a shot form that fought itself was dealt to San Antonio for a second round pick in order to free up cap space leaving the Suns with zero point guards on the roster then came the final bomb starting center and former first overall pick DeAndre Aiden to Portland and rising defensive star Tumani Kamara for Yousef Nerkach Grayson Allen Nier Little and Keon Johnson it was the White Flag the Aiden development track and an investment in experience after half of one season and one full off season Ishbia had entirely reshaped the team gutted their depth on the perimeter for one generational talent and one all-star level scorer exchanged the homegrown center for an aging bruiser and finally replaced the coach who led them to their highest peak since the ‘9s with a title winning outsider the reactions to each of these moves were different with one unifying takeaway at the center this was unmistakably Matt Ishbia’s team win or lose the Lion’s share of credit would belong to him for the most part the campaign was a success they increased their win total by four games made the playoffs and drew the Minnesota Timberwolves as their first round matchup opinions were split but most expected a tight series regardless of the outcome [Music] oh it’s on ladies and gentlemen oh yeah baby kd loves it instead it was a swift and merciless sweep the Wolves suffocated the Suns ball handlers disappointing playoff performances like that would result in widescale changes some people think [Music] Phoenix wasn’t hopelessly far from contention minnesota would go on to defeat the defending champs before falling in the conference finals they hadn’t lost to just some upstarts they fell to a truly destructive defense with an ascending superstar if you were living in that brutal Arizona heat you could convince yourself the team was only a few moves away from being cohesive and then competitive the offseason started with a dismissal of Frank Vogle and the hiring of Mike Bddenhoer 2 days later the coaching change was followed by an unusually mellow off season no mega deals or bigname acquisitions just sensible and manageable additions in positions of need ryan Dunn at the bottom of the first to add some perimeter defenders oso Igodaro in the second round along with Mason Plumbley in free agency to bolster the front court and Taius Jones and Monte Morris to reinforce the back court to finish off the overhaul there were persisting questions the Bradley Bealfit still didn’t make sense the big man problem was mitigated but not necessarily solved but overall the vibes were high booker and Durant won a gold medal in Paris the depth was improved the head coach’s system made more sense for the team the roster was better and $195 million over the luxury tax clearly the owner wasn’t cheap besides they won 49 games the year before benhoer’s offense got off to a scorching start lighting the way to an 8-1 record that’s when the defensive issues started to appear and they didn’t go away no matter how many points they scored the other team would find a way to score more their rotations were slow littered with mismatches and still without any semblance of rim protection to support them then the front office started spinning that cursed rolodex once again they moved Yousef Nerk and Joshi to Charlotte for Nick Richards Cody Martin and Vasile Mitch sadly it did little to fix their fortunes o’neal triggers 2.7 durant running back to the three-point line for the tie no this baby is over i’m tired of talking about it they have no leadership they trash things get tough you get quiet as a group some point you got to draw a line and should have been drawn a long time ago i think it starts with me i just feel like I got to be better [Music] by the All-Star break Phoenix was 26 and 28 on track to miss the postseason for the first time since 2020 with their backs against the wall barreling towards the biggest disappointment in recent franchise history the Suns got desperate no picks for the foreseeable future a payroll that just kept rising there was no reward for losing games and yet the L’s kept piling up something had to change and change fast they shopped Bradley Beal to as many teams as they could looking for anyone with a point guard center or even just a matching contract but no one picked up they couldn’t find anyone that was willing to cut a deal and appealing enough for Beiel to wave his no trade clause their only window to cap flexibility or supporting cast upgrades were clearly shut so they turned to their other big-time addition from a couple years ago the Olympic hero that got taller every year Kevin Durant this was a different kind of roster shakeup they weren’t looking to plug holes upgrade positions of need or in any way revamp the rotations for a late season push this was a resignation the Suns admitting defeat and looking to recoup as much value as possible from the score they once hoped would push them over the top the market was responsive multiple teams called organized elaborate packages and worked with Phoenix to get a deal done but Katie was 36 years old now most GMs weren’t looking to add a scoring machine on the tail end of his career and the ones that were understood the Sun’s position they knew the deadline was approaching there was no sense of urgency for the guys calling with offers but the clock was ticking quickly for the people fielding them then just when it seemed like a deal with Golden State was coming together Durant blew it up he was caught off guard by the trade discussions and had no interest in returning to the Bay the deadline passed 35 was still in Arizona and both sides were forced to endure a long icy second half of the season the Suns didn’t improve if anything they regressed the locker room turned on Budenhoer the failed KD trade hung over the team and the Bradley Beal situation only deteriorated when the 82 games came to an end three games behind the 10th seed Budenhoer was shown the door marking the third head coach fired in 3 years of course Kevin Durant was traded to the Rockets while we were putting this video together but that’s life for a rebuilding basketball team still we have no clue what the Sun’s future holds for them it would require a miracle of mismanagement for anyone to touch that Beetle contract assuming they could get him to wave the no trade clause in the first place there are no late exits left only disheartening consolation prizes that offer 70 cents on the dollar there’s no way around it things are ugly at the moment the Suns have no control over their own pick until 2032 a fractured culture and a roster that doesn’t make sense every oasis has been a mirage and every canteen has run dry now all the people of the desert can do is hope for rain [Music] if you ask any of us in a vacuum how we’d like our team’s decision makers to operate we’d say aggressively we want them on phones finding shrewd deals upgrading the roster at every single opportunity sometimes that works danny A built the big three in a single summer toronto won a title off of one audacious gamble but more often than not it doesn’t the moves that forge dynasties are the timely punts the under the radar signings and the intelligent roster building avoiding bad contracts not being blinded by big names those aren’t the 2K transactions we all love orchestrating in My League they’re the result of patient meticulous planning and boring execution phoenix fans never saw those instead they watched as high-profile graphics grace their timelines and casual fans wax poetic about their offensive potential only to be undone by their inability to do the little things they were forced to watch any score with a live handle and an aggressive mindset assault their rims every defense with a penchant for pressure undo them in the final moments they painfully looked on as an all-in or nothing bet looked more and more like a reckless gamble and now the picture has come into focus there’s no exciting young rookies in the new future no flashy coaching acquisitions that can fix this or sweeping trades to solve all their issues instead it’ll be years and years of hoping the suits at the top make smart decision after smart decision still it’s going to take a long time for the Suns to climb out of this hole relish the Devin Booker pull-ups cling to the Ryan Dunn hype train re-watch highlights of Chris Paul kicking it out to Mackel Bridges if you have to because the reality awaiting your team is a painful one climbing back up that mountain you nearly summited back in 2021 will be painstaking obnoxiously gradual and frankly unlikely in any immediate sense but the good news is it could always be worse just ask a Kings fan

what happens when a die-hard hoops head buys an nba team?

the phoenix suns were 2 games away from a championship in 2021, a young core full of stable wing players, save veterans and an emerging star. So how did we get here in just a few short years the team looks completely different, from the kevin durant and bradley beal trades to the coaching carousel, the failed experiments, and the long-term consequences of moving too fast in a league that rewards patience.

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