3 Biggest Things Mat Ishbia Said at Final Suns Press Conference

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns held end of season media availability this week after their first-round playoff exit.

It was a fun but long season in the desert, and now with the playoffs already in store, this offseason will be massive in helping Phoenix reach the next level.

Owner Mat Ishbia spoke for over 30 minutes today on a variety of topics. Here's the three biggest takeaways:

Suns Are Not Trading Devin Booker

These trade rumors always seem to be prevelant when the Suns fall short, and once again the national media believes Booker should be dealt elsewhere.

"Devin Booker is our franchise player. I love Devin Booker. Devin Booker loves being here. Our coach loves Devin Booker. Our GM loves Devin Booker. Devin Booker is going to be here. Devin Booker is going to lead us to a championship here in Phoenix. That's what he's going to do, and we're going to build the right team around him. He's going to get better, just like I'm going to get better, just like everyone is going to get better in our organization," Ishbia said.

"At the same time, Devin Booker is who we want here, and he's great for the city, great for the community. I'll ride into a fire with Devin Booker, and I'll do it proudly, and we'll go any time. He's going to have my back, and I'm have his back, and Devin Booker is our guy. So the national media, I've learned you guys actually are in the weeds a little bit more with what we do. The national media just says stuff to say stuff sometimes, and people say stuff. Sometimes I like to respond, and sometimes I don't, because it's just ridiculous.

"But Devin Booker is not getting traded. Devin Booker's our franchise player, and like I said, we're gonna win a championship here with Devin Booker, and I'm excited to do it, and I'm excited to be next to him when we do that."

Suns vs OKC

The Suns were at the mercy of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of playoff action as Phoenix was swept 4-0 by the defending NBA champs.

However, Ishbia says they learned a lot from the experience to build on moving forward.

"Yeah, so I enjoyed that we got to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of course, I would have rather won the game before, because I don't like to lose ever, but we got to play against the best team and get to see where we stood. And obviously we were missing a couple players, and that's not there's no excuses, it's playoffs. You got to play. And I loved our competitiveness," he said.

"I think what was great about watching our team and coach Ott is Game 1 was not great. Game 2 was better. Game 3 was better. And Game 4, I mean, Games 3/4 we played really good basketball. They're a really good basketball team, and they deserve to win 60 plus games like they have, and they won a championship last year, and they're gonna be really tough to beat this year. So it was great to see the champs up close and personal and know that that's where we want to be. We're going to keep building towards that. And so I liked it as an experience. We played them nine times this year, five times regular season. No one else had to do that. We played them four times in playoffs. There's a lot of times we played against them.

"We beat them a couple times, and we're going to figure out how to continue to get better, but you see what the champs look like and say, 'Okay, how do we keep building?' And we had a great foundational first year, and now we know where we want to go. I tell you guys, we're going to win championships here in Phoenix, and we're going to build towards it. And it's great to see what the best team looks like and say, 'Okay, now we know where we got to get better, and how do we close that gap next year and continue to build?'"

NHL Back to Phoenix?

The Coyotes moved just a few seasons ago, and there's a vacancy for an NHL team to be brought back to the desert in the future.

There's hope Ishbia could play a role in that happening, as the Suns' owner says he firmly believes Phoenix is a four-sport town when asked about upgrading the arena to welcome a potential hockey team.

"Yeah. So the arena, I think we have one of the best arenas in the NBA. Very likely. We have a great deal with the city. They've been very supportive of things. We've made some improvements. I think we've done some great things. So I'm really proud of what we do in Phoenix and all the places all around it. I think we have a lease for 10 more years. So, you know, we're not thinking about anything at this point yet. So we feel great about that. On the hockey thing, which I know comes up, like I'm I always said this: This is a four sport town, and disappointed that we don't have hockey here," he said.

"I support having hockey here in any way I can. I don't have really control over that right now, but I do like hockey, and I hope Phoenix gets hockey back. But in general, I'm focused on the NBA, the WNBA teams, making it a great concert venue, which we do great things there too, just making it a great thing for the city of Phoenix. That's my job in the community. And so that's really my focus on the Suns, the Mercury and obviously making great things happen in the arena and in the community."

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