Mat Ishbia is quietly holding up his end of the bargain this season in Phoenix

It is hard to sum up Phoenix Suns' owner Mat Ishbia's time in charge of the organization in one word - but if you were to try - outspoken would certainly appear near the top. From giving searingly honest press conferences after falling short of expectations, to having strange beefs with The Ringer's Bill Simmons' about the Suns' defensive expectations, Ishbia has been vocal about his franchise.

He cut a more reserved figure at media day this season, accepting that mistakes had been made in trying to microwave a contender, and that the Suns were going to have to take a more long-term approach to building a winner around Devin Booker. Words that were easy to say, but much harder to follow given what we've seen from the 45-year-old to this point.

Ishbia has so far stayed true to his word.

But as the Suns settle into life as a team fighting to make the play-in this season, Ishbia has made good on his promise and hasn't been seen or heard from. Even though Memphis Grizzlies' star Ja Morant is seemingly available - and plays the point guard position no less - there hasn't been even a whisper of the front office pivoting from this boring, long-term thinking to another sexy trade.

Instead head coach Jordan Ott has tried to build an identity around defending with guys like Grayson Allen, Mark Williams and Collin Gillespie who are far from household names. Although Jalen Green has yet to appear and Dillon Brooks is also currently out injured, right now you could make the case the Suns didn't fumble the Kevin Durant trade either.

There's still plenty of time for that to go wrong - a lot will hinge on the development of young center Khaman Maluach - but the Suns certainly haven't been the butt of any jokes recently. Their decision to buy out Bradley Beal, and do it to little fanfare or media attention, is another move that looks better by the day.

Even giving Booker a monster extension, seemingly as a thank you for sticking with what is going to be a lean couple of years, doesn't feel like a disaster yet. All of these decisions make sense - or at least have a logic you can follow - and they have been done quietly. Which hadn't been the Ishbia way at all in his first couple of years at the helm.

The media appearances seem to have dropped off, while the team just gets on with playing basketball. Hiring Brian Gregory as General Manager was not a popular choice, but like Ishbia he has kept his head down and worked behind the scenes. This approach was unexpected, but it is also working as The Valley falls back in love with their Suns again.