Mat Ishbia officially bought the Phoenix Suns in 2023, but the team has yet to compete for a championship in his tenure as owner.
The Suns made the NBA Finals in 2021, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games, and have since failed to even make it back to the Western Conference Finals. In that span, Phoenix has gone through a significant roster turnover as the team looks to find a championship team.
While Phoenix is not considered a top contender this season, Ishbia seems to believe that they could make a run at the end of the season. In fact, Ishbia laid out his expectations for the Suns in the upcoming season, which would be a major step forward for the franchise.
Here's how Ishbia thinks the Suns will perform this season.
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Mat Ishbia's bold prediction
While appearing on CNBC Sport, Suns owner Mat Ishbia discussed his expectations for the Suns in 2026-27. Phoenix is not considered a top contender in the West, but Ishbia clearly believes the team could make some noise in the postseason.
"We're going to be better than we were last year and that we're gonna be a team that you look and be like, 'I love this team,'" Ishbia said. "I believe that we have a team that can get there, as in, we're going to make the playoffs, we're going to win a first (round) playoff series."
"We're going to be better than we were last year … we're going to make the playoffs, we're going to win a first (round) playoff series…" 📈 Mat Ishbia has a CLEAR vision for what fans should expect from the Phoenix Suns this year (via @CNBCSport) https://t.co/gm3FWUlg9w
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) October 16, 2026Last year, the Suns won 45 games, which was the seventh-most wins in the Western Conference, and a nine-win improvement from the previous season. Phoenix made the playoffs through the play-in tournament but lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a four-game sweep.
Still, that year-to-year improvement was encouraging to Ishbia, who thinks the Suns can take another step forward in the playoffs in 2027.
"We're an ascending, young team getting better every day, and we have a superstar in Devin Booker who we're going to continue to build around," Ishbia added.
