Suns owner Mat Ishbia predicts first-round playoff win, dismisses tanking

Mat Ishbia, who has owned the NBA's Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury since 2023, told CNBC Sport in an exclusive interview that he expects the Suns to make the playoffs and win a first-round series this season — a prediction made before the new NBA campaign had even started.

"You should be thinking that we're going to be better than we were last year," Ishbia said. "As in, we're going to make the playoffs. We're going to win the first playoff series."

The Suns traded All-Star forward Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and still reached the playoffs last season, where the Oklahoma City Thunder swept them in the first round. The Western Conference is crowded with teams carrying credible championship ambitions, including the Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs, the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

A hands-on owner, not an empire builder

Ishbia said he is not trying to assemble a sports conglomerate in the mould of Stan Kroenke, Josh Harris or John Henry. "My view is not to be some sports empire," he said. "I'm not making investments in sports. I'm buying a team that I can impact and help win."

He bought the Suns and the Mercury for a combined $4 billion. Less than four years later, CNBC values the two teams at just shy of $7 billion. Ishbia said he recently rejected an offer for a small minority stake — "a couple percent" — that would have valued both teams at more than $8 billion, and that he expects a valuation of $8 billion to $9 billion.

His brother, Justin, holds a minority stake in MLB's Chicago White Sox and will take over as controlling owner of that club in the coming years.

Mortgage lender draws scrutiny

Ishbia said Mark Walter's sale of his majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers in August has focused more attention on his outside businesses, chiefly United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the country's largest mortgage lender, where he is CEO. UWM shares are down about 80% over the past 12 months amid a weak housing market.

In 2024, Hunterbrook Media published an investigation into UWM's alleged practice of turning independent mortgage brokers into non-independent funnels for billions of dollars of mortgages. At least two lawsuits followed; some claims are ongoing and some have been dismissed. UWM suspended its dividend in August, and a company spokesperson told Hunterbrook that many claims had been resolved in UWM's favour.

Ishbia said the company had "a great third quarter" and that more than 60% of its business is purchase lending, which is less dependent on interest rates. An SEC filing shows his holding company, SFS Corp, took out five JPMorgan loans with principal amounts of $610 million, $605 million, $435 million, $225 million and $460 million. A spokesman said these are credit facilities available to Ishbia and his family and that the amounts owed are far below what is available. Ishbia said the loans will not affect his ownership of the Suns, which he plans to keep for the next "40, 50 years."

No tanking, more star power

Ishbia said he will never deliberately lose a season, calling tanking "for losers," and welcomed NBA draft rule changes from 2027 that discourage it. He added that the league is working on a "new contest" for All-Star weekend, which takes place in Phoenix in February, and that he is discussing ideas with Commissioner Adam Silver to bring more of the league's top players into the event.

Source: CNBC Top News.