“This team, to me, has been mismanaged” – Sam Mitchell rips Suns for $145M Devin Booker extension originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The Phoenix Suns locked up franchise player Devin Booker with a two-year $145 million contract extension that will keep him on the team until the 2029-30 NBA season.
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But while many see that as a good move, as it locks the team’s franchise player well into the future, former NBA Coach of the Year winner Sam Mitchell said it’s another bad move in Mat Ishbia’s disastrous tenure as the Suns’ team owner.
According to Mitchell, Ishbia has completely mismanaged the Suns by thinking he can buy anything, including an NBA title.
“You start giving out money,” said Mitchell on SiriusXM NBA radio. “For what? What did we achieve? What did we do? You’re giving me this money cos I’m the best player on our team, and you think it’s gonna make me happy. It’s a sugar high. What about winning? This team, to me, has been mismanaged.”
Is Ishbia giving the wrong message?
The Suns were expected to retool this summer after their Big 3 experiment failed miserably last season. They began the free agency by trading Kevin Durant for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and draft capital. Currently, they are reportedly working on a buyout with Bradley Beal so they can start with a fresh group going into the next campaign. Phoenix also went big by acquiring Mark Williams and drafting Duke big man Khaman Maluach.
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But instead of focusing his resources on further solidifying his team’s roster, Ishbia chose to lock up Booker for two more years despite the fact that he still has three years left in his deal. Mitchell said D-Book is a great player who has been loyal to the Suns franchise throughout his career. However, giving him a massive increase despite the struggles the team has endured since their 2021 NBA Finals appearance gives the wrong message.
“You keep giving money, and the rest of these guys around the league are saying, ‘How my team gon’ tell me ‘no’. They didn’t make the play-in. They didn’t make the playoffs. You own a team with Devin Durant, Bradley Beal. You didn’t even make the play-in. That’s like telling the guy you hire as a CEO and they have lost hundreds of millions of dollars. And you turn around and give him a raise,” added Mitchell.
Book was still locked in for the next three seasons
Booker was the Suns’ 13th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and he’s blossomed into a legit superstar in The Valley by making four All-Star appearances in the last six years, including two years where he made an All-NBA team.
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He is the Suns’ career scoring leader with 16,452 points and 3-pointers made with 1,424. He averaged 25.6 points per game last season, his ninth straight year with a scoring average of at least 22 points per game.
However, with D-Book under contract through the 2027-28 season, there was no urgency to offer him another extension, especially with the Suns facing more pressing matters elsewhere on the roster.
Booker has represented the Suns well in his first decade in the league. However, he has not won a championship for Phoenix and will start from scratch again after the failed Big 3 experiment.
Putting Booker’s contract aside, there’s little sense for Ishbia to make further long-term money moves while the team’s current direction remains uncertain.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.