Suns Owner Mat Ishbia Justifies Kevin Durant & Bradley Beal Gamble by Pointing to Franchise's Desperate Push to End Title Drought

When Mat Ishbia became the owner of the Phoenix Suns, he went big and acquired Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal via trade. However, the move backfired, as the Suns only won one playoff series in three years. Ishbia explained why he made the huge moves and how he feels after they failed.

Speaking on "The Draymond Green Show," the pair of Michigan State Spartans discussed a variety of topics about life and basketball. Draymond Green brought up Ishbia's mentality when he went all-in to get Durant from the Brooklyn Nets and Beal from the Washington Wizards.

"It didn't work," Ishbia said. "However, the mentality is we're out here trying to win. The Phoenix Suns have never won a championship in the long history they had. It's like, 'Let's go try to win. Let's go see what we can do.' And you know what? It didn't work.

The billionaire added:

"And maybe I could have done things differently, but you know what? No one's going to think that Mat Ishbia doesn't care. No one's going to think that he's not spending money and trying to win. And I think that sends a message to fans and players."

The Phoenix Suns hit the reset button in the offseason, trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and waiving Bradley Beal despite his big contract. Mat Ishbia continued to build around Devin Booker, who remains committed to the franchise.

Mat Ishbia also wanted to create a different mentality among players who want to play for the Suns, which is why it was important for them to get Dillon Brooks in the Durant trade. Phoenix has a record of 11-6 after the first five weeks of the season despite not having Jalen Green for the majority of it.

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Mat Ishbia facing lawsuit from Suns minority owners

According to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, Mat Ishbia is facing a lawsuit filed by a couple of Phoenix Suns minority owners back in August. Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg alleged that Ishbia has turned the NBA franchise into his "personal piggy bank" and made it unprofitable.

Ishbia's representatives released a statement in response to the lawsuit. The billionaire countersued Seldin and Kohlberg, who had minority stakes under the previous owner, Robert Sarver.

"Kohlberg and Seldin want to drag the organization backward, and they openly admit in this filing that investing in the team and its fans 'makes no business sense.' They are advocating neglect. They are free to sell their shares in the open market," the statement read.

Ishbia's camp is also confident that they will win the lawsuit and continue making investments in the Suns.