Somers: Did Mat Ishbia mortgage Phoenix Suns' future with Kevin Durant deal?
Mat Ishbia made a fortune in the mortgage business, where risks are calculated down to the final decimal point. So there’s probably no one more aware of the chance the Suns are taking by trading for Kevin Durant.
Durant is one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, but he’s also 34 with a recent history of injuries, including a sprained MCL that currently has him sidelined. Acquiring him also cost the Suns Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round draft choices.
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The future has been mortgaged.
But it’s worth it because Durant should make the Suns substantially better in the present. Without Durant, the Suns might have contended for the first championship in franchise history. With him, anything less than another championship series appearance will be a disappointment.
Less than a day after closing a deal that made him the Suns majority owner, Ishbia pushed for the Suns to make their most impactful trade since acquiring Charles Barkley in 1992.
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It’s risky. Bridges is one of the NBA’s best defenders and has gradually improved offensively. Johnson was General Manager James Jones’s best draft pick. Bridges and Johnson are 26. Dealing four first-round picks obviously impacts the Suns’ ability to add talent and depth around Durant, and after he’s gone.
But acquiring a superstar requires giving up valuable players, and it can be painful to watch them go. Bridges was a fan favorite, just as Jeff Hornacek was when he was dealt to Philadelphia in the Barkley deal 31 yeas ago.
If the Suns don’t win a championship with Durant, who is under contract through 2026, Ishbia’s first big decision as majority owner possibly will go down as his worst, no matter how long he owns the team.
If it were a mortgage, Ishbia’s underwriters might not have signed off on it.
But it’s Kevin Durant. And when healthy, he’s unstoppable. Durant paired with Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton make the Suns devilish to defend.
It’s a deal the Suns had to make, and they were wise to move on from the status quo, even if the status quo was pretty good.
At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, Ishbia said the Suns were a championship contender as constructed. Several times he said that his focus was not only on the short term but also the long term.
It’s not that the pre-Durant Suns were bad. They have won nine of their last 11 games, most of them without Booker, who returned Tuesday from a groin injury.
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But it was questionable whether the Suns were going to be good enough to win the Western Conference. They weren’t last season, when basically this same group struggled to win a playoff series against the Pelicans and then was embarrassed by the Mavericks in the conference semifinals.
They’ve been blown out this season more often than a good team should be.
The Suns have placed a hefty wager that Durant will change that. It’s a risk, but championships typically aren’t won by the timid.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Somers: Did Mat Ishbia mortgage Phoenix Suns' future with Kevin Durant deal?
