P
HOENIX – Mat Ishbia, the majority owner of the Suns and Mercury, recently found himself in a precarious financial situation because of multi-millions of dollars lost and recouped through his company, United Wholesale Mortgage.
That didn’t stop the Suns from using the NBA’s famous Larry Bird exception to extend forward Dillon Brooks by three years, $73 million, even though the club is well above the league’s salary cap of $165 million. The Suns, according to Spotrac, are at $240.9 million, $80 million above the cap and well beyond what the league calls its second financial apron.
Because the Suns obtained Brooks from Houston last year in the final season of his just-expired contract, they held his Bird rights and could extend him at up to 140% of his previous deal without clearing space under the cap.
Good for Brooks, who became the heart and soul of the team last season because of his on-and-off the court leadership and gritty play. Management responded, pairing him with franchise cornerstone Devin Booker for at least three more seasons.
“It makes you feel comfortable,” Brooks said during a Friday media session after his new deal was announced. “It gives you a sense of trust. From the beginning when the trade happened I felt that trust. That’s why I played so hard. That’s why it was easy to sign this extension and be part of such a great organization.”
Mat Ishbia Has Significant Financial Issues
There always seems to be something going on with Ishbia, who’s embroiled in constant lawsuits, either internally basketball-wise or in his mortgage business. This time UWM suffered a large derivatives loss, losing a bet that interest rates would drop. The company announced a $2.05 billion capital raise to offset the losses.
The obvious question is how this might affect operations of the Suns and Mercury. UWM released a statement to Bloomberg saying not at all, which is well and good until it does. See Mark Walter, under financial scrutiny, just selling the Lakers.
“Trying to use this deal to suggest Mat’s financial situation with UWM or the Phoenix Suns is threatened clearly ignores the facts. Furthermore, Mat is finalizing an agreement to buy out the remaining Suns and Mercury shareholders bringing the Ishbia’s total ownership to almost 99% of the teams.”
Let’s wait for that shoe to drop. Meanwhile, back to the Brooks’ deal.
Because of their penalty situation, on July 6, 2025, the Suns finalized a trade of Kevin Durant to the Rockets for Brooks and Jalen Green, and it had to be a swap for an equal amount of money. Durant was earning $54.7 million from the Suns while Green and Brooks were making a combined $55.5 million.
Brooks was traded with $22.1 million remaining on the final season of a four-year, front-loaded $86 million contract, which made him a perfect candidate for the Bird exception and a cap-less extension.
Bird, the former Celtics’ star, was allowed to remain with Boston after the 1983-84 season when the initial salary cap was negotiated in the NBA collective bargaining agreement. The Celtics were able to re-sign Bird even if his new deal exceeded the cap, which was launched for the 1984-85 season at $3.6 million per team, any of which also had the right to retain their star players for as many as four seasons above the cap.
Thus, the Bird exception, which the Suns and Brooks took full advantage of. Brooks’ cap hit is $22.5 million this season, $24.3 million for 2028-29, and $26.1 million for 2029-30. He’ll be a free agent after that when he’s 35 years of age.
“Dillon’s toughness, competitiveness and work ethic epitomize our Suns’ DNA,” Suns general manager Brian Gregory said after the extension. “He plays with a drive and intensity that sets the tone for our team and raises the level of everyone around him. Dillon was an important part of what we accomplished last season, and we’re excited to see him continue to grow as a player while building on the connection he’s established with our fans and the Phoenix community.”
The Suns Are In The Second Season Of A Rebuild
The Suns won the second of two play-in games defeating the Warriors at the conclusion of this past regular season, but were swept by the then-defending NBA champion Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. They’ve lost eight consecutive postseason games dating back to 2024, and didn’t make the playoffs at the end of the 2024-25 season.
That failure led to Ishbia firing his general manager, James Jones, in lieu of Gregory, and his coach Mike Budenholzer, in favor of Jordan Ott. Gregory and Ott had no previous experience in those jobs.
Gregory then gutted the team, trading Durant and buying out the often-injured Bradley Beal. The Suns still sustain a dead cap hit on the current Clippers guard of $19.4 million per season for the next four seasons.
Still, with a novice head coach and a new lineup, the Suns surprised the pundits, finishing 45-37 and making the playoffs even for just a moment.
“We wanted to get to the playoffs and we did,” said Brooks, despite missing 18 consecutive late season games after he fractured his left hand. “That’s going to help us a lot. Even though we added two new guys, we’re building the second base of this transition. Once we get started, we’ll get that chemistry and camaraderie going.”
The two new guys are forward Miles Bridges and guard Luke Kennard. They came at the cost of Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, two good shooting component parts of last season’s team.
“We’ll miss Royce, we’ll miss Grayson,” Brooks said. “Those guys were the building stones of this. We’re going to miss that shooting. We’re going to miss that veteran savvy. We tell them, good luck on the next part of their journeys. And when they play us, we just hope they play their worst games.”
Let’s hope Brooks remains healthy and that Ishbia is able to protect his interest in the teams.