If there is one person who can feel vindicated for how this amazing Phoenix Suns season has unfolded, it is owner Mat Ishbia.
Ridiculed before the start of the campaign for the disaster that was the Kevin Durant era, he has kept quiet and let the new roster he put together do the talking.
Ishbia sitting out trade deadline has worked wonders
Allowing the group already in place to play basketball and not worry about trades or rumors has been a masterstroke, as the Suns have won 30 games already and look like a real playoff team.
Outside of upgrading this one position, there has been no trade chatter around the organization at the deadline either, which has been brilliant for stability in Phoenix.
Our fans have loved the $2 value menu, so we are going to add more options going forward. Effective Sunday (our next home game), tacos and ice cream sandwiches are also $2. We will always do right by our fans here in Phoenix and invest in making this the best organization in… pic.twitter.com/yIdHarThxC
— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) January 23, 2026
Contrast that with every year since Ishbia bought the franchise, and all of the talk that existed away from the basketball court. It began with trading for Durant himself at the deadline.
Exciting times, and it led to an appearance in the second round of the playoffs. But that was as good as it got, and subsequent deadlines featured baseless rumors to try and fix a problem all of their own making.
Whether it was going after Nick Richards around this time last season, or even Royce O'Neale prior to that, the Suns of the last two years were always searching for solutions at this point in their campaign.
That Ishbia has been happy to move on from Durant and then see what he has with this team has been brilliant to watch, although the fact they have surpassed all expectations surely helps him not take massive swings.
We all know Giannis Antetokounmpo is available, but the Suns have never been linked with him. There was talk of Jonathan Kuminga being a target for a while, but Phoenix never allowed themselves to overpay for a player who is still in San Francisco.
It's a more measured approach and one that also has been aided by the arrival of head coach Jordan Ott. When he's getting the best out of this roster, why do anything at all?
Perhaps the franchise will decide that Jeremy Sochan is too good to turn down, and we may see some activity in the summer once the high of this season is behind us.
But Ishbia and the front office standing pat as we head into the stretch run shows he has learned from past mistakes, and the Suns are all the better for it.