Suns Owner Takes Victory Lap Over Wildly Wrong Preseason Predictions

The Phoenix Suns turned out to be much better than expected. Mat Ishbia won't be shy about it.

Feb 27, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia watches a game against the New Orleans Pelicans in the second quarter at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Phoenix Suns inch closer towards the NBA All-Star break continuing to shatter preseason hopes and expectations.

Owner Mat Ishbia is loving it.

Ishbia, after his failed star experiment was torn down this offseason, assembled a team many thought would only win 30 games this season.

Currently, the Suns are 27-17 with the West's sixth seed in their possession.

To say Phoenix has shocked the basketball world would be stating the obvious — but it's still fun to go back and revisit some of those preseason predictions.

"Always fun to see what the so-called 'experts' thought about the Suns before the season. Proud of what we’re building here in Phoenix and we are just getting started!" Ishbia said on X, re-posting an account that showed Bleacher Report's prediction of 26 wins:

Always fun to see what the so-called “experts” thought about the Suns before the season. Proud of what we’re building here in Phoenix and we are just getting started! https://t.co/K5vjjuEl56

— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) January 22, 2026

READ: Former Suns Coach Gets Real on Why Last Year Didn't Work

The Suns have quickly transformed themselves into a playoff contender in a tough Western Conference, and only appear to be getting better with the resurgence of Jalen Green back into the rotation.

While Phoenix could easily make a splash at the NBA's Feb. 5 trade deadline, Ishbia was adamant they love what's going on with the Suns.

"We will be active because we talk to people every day, but the truth is we love our team,” Ishbia told Arizona Sports. “We love our guys, we love our coach, and we love everything we got going. We don’t need to mess with a great thing."

That seems to hold true, as it's tough to imagine an obvious trade the Suns should make. Phoenix's cohesion on and off the court seems to be going quite well, and it'd be a tough sell to dismantle any part of that.

The Suns' surge this year should also be attributed to first-year head coach Jordan Ott, whose philosophy of a tough/scrappy defensive team on top of a three-point centric attack has paid dividends early on.

Wins and losses will come with the rugged 82-game schedule, though Ott's squad undeniably plays hard through all 48 minutes of each contest, which has quite literally won them games down the stretch after being down by 20+ points.

They've got star power. They've got grit. They've got promise on both sides of the court, too.

The Suns shouldn't be planning a championship parade any time soon, though Phoenix's undoubtedly has been a pleasant surprise for anybody who's involved in covering the NBA.

Even if their preseason expectations were massively undersold.