How the Phoenix Suns either turn their 2024-25 season around or don’t is yet to play out. One thing is certain coming from owner Mat Ishbia: Whatever happens, expect Devin Booker to remain a Sun.
The offseason is quite clearly going to have the team evaluating whether changes are either significant or massively massive.
Trade talks gone public in February put the Suns’ intentions and urgency to find fixes out in the open, especially with regard to Kevin Durant’s and Bradley Beal’s futures in Phoenix.
In an in-depth feature published Friday, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon got candid answers from Ishbia, Beal and Booker about what the future might hold.
Takeaways from Mat Ishbia, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal speaking to ESPN
— Ishbia made it perfectly clear he does not want to pursue any rebuild that doesn’t put the Suns in position to win next season. However, he said he would consider a “pivot and reload” around Booker.
— Booker won’t be traded. That’s from Ishbia, who told ESPN it will “never happen.”
“It’s silly. So, here’s what I’ll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player,” Ishbia added.
— Booker told ESPN that he does not want to request a trade and is committed to playing his entire career in Phoenix.
“I take pride in the community in Phoenix, the people that have supported me since I was 18 when things were ugly,” Booker told ESPN. “And the people that are with us, we just fell short of accomplishing what we want. So, I want to do it, and I want to do it here.
“That’s the responsibility of being a franchise player, and I wear that with honor. So, it might not look the most pretty right now, but we got to get it done and I’m going to do it.”
— Beal, on the other hand, gave an honest assessment of his situation. Benched mid-year and only recently returning to the starting lineup, the guard admitted he felt some type of disrespect from the Suns in how his season has been handled.
He also used the opportunity to again point out his no-trade clause, but added he would be potentially more open to waiving it to leave Phoenix in the offseason.
“It is a different deal in the summer,” Beal told ESPN. “Everything is kind of more laid out on the table. You got more options.”