The Suns boss admits a complete failure this season! The finger is pointed at Budden, who is confident that the celebrity will apologize to him

On April 18, Beijing time, Suns owner Ishbia held a press conference to summarize the season. Awkward, bad, defeated, those were the words Ishbia mentioned, and the Suns ended the season with a dismal 36-46 record and didn't even qualify for the playoffs. At the press conference, Ishbia pointed the finger at Budenholzer, who had already left class. In addition, he firmly believes that the Suns can win the championship in the future, and believes that "American Yang Yi" A-Smith will eventually apologize to himself. Previously, A-Smith believed that Ishbia would be the "worst boss in the league".

Ishbia told reporters: "I watch every game like you guys. No one is proud of this, and no one is happy with it...... Everyone was disappointed that our struggles were complete failures. We weren't good enough, we had to make changes and seek improvement in new ways. There is no escaping this. ”

'It's really uncomfortable to watch our team lose and not play at the level we expected it to be...... I'm not happy with this season. That being said, we're making some changes. As a boss, it's my job to drive these changes and try new strategies. Because in the last two and a half years, our attempts and practices have not been as successful as expected. ”

The Suns fired head coach Budenholzer for the first time, just a year after he took office. Budenholzer became the third Suns head coach to be fired in the last three seasons.

"Our next selection has to be accurate, and we will do it. The lineup we've built...... Far better than a squad that can only win 36 games," Ishbia said, "There are many reasons why Coach Budenholzer left. I won't go into all the details, but one thing is clear, we should have won more games and been more competitive in the games. I wish him all the best, but he's not the right coach for our team and the squad. At the end of the day, you can blame me because I'm the boss. Sidery noted that Ishbia's remarks were a harsh and direct criticism that amounted to placing much of the blame for the season on Budenholzer.

According to Scotto, the following coaches could be candidates for the Suns' new coach: Mike Brown, Borrego, Johnny Bryant, Chris Quinn, Jared Dudley, Sweetney, Ivey, Sullivan. The Suns don't seem to have their sights set on Malone and Jenkins, who are out of class this season.

In addition to finding a new head coach, the Suns must also decide how to deal with the departure of Durant and Beal. Although Durant has performed well this season, he missed a number of games and ultimately missed the All-Star selection. There are signs that the two sides are working to trade the future Hall of Famer away.

Shams said Durant and the five teams were interested in each other during last year's NBA trade deadline. Charania expects those teams to remain in contention this offseason. That includes the Rockets, but it depends on their playoff performance. If the Rockets are out early, this team is one to watch in a trade involving Durant.

While James Jones, president and general manager of basketball operations, told reporters that his view of Durant has not changed, he also understands that the team has to revisit everything given the poor performance this season.

"From a winning point of view, we didn't live up to expectations, which meant we had to re-evaluate everything," Jones said, "A lot of the changes we make are going to be in the best interest of the team and we're going to look at everything in a holist." ”

Not only was Beal sent to the bench last season, but he was also plagued by injuries, and he fell far short of what the Suns would have expected when they acquired him in a trade in 2023. But because he has the right to veto deals, it won't be easy to get him away. One possible option would be to lay him off and pay him in installments, but as wage expert Marks said, that would require Beal agreeing to give up a portion of his salary and agreeing to buy out the contract.

Ishbia reaffirmed his confidence in the Suns' future championship, while also echoing A-Smith's comments. A-Smith said this week that "he (Ishbia) will be one of the worst owners in NBA history". Ishbia said, "Stephen A. Smith? To be honest, I didn't take what he said too seriously. And I don't think many people take his words seriously. …… I think he'll apologize to me in the future. ”