It's time for the Phoenix Suns to trade Steve Nash
Former MVP must be dealt so talent-deprived Suns can protect NBA lottery spot
by Dan Bickley, columnist - Jan. 25, 2012 08:51 PM
The Arizona Republic
The good times are gone. Empty seats weep silently. And after all these wonderful years of service, Steve Nash suddenly has become a liability.
The Suns must trade him soon, before he can turn a flawed, talent-deprived team into something mediocre.
No one wanted it to end this way. But after three successive home losses to Cleveland, New Jersey and Toronto, it's time to face the sobering truth.
Marquee free agents won't be coming to Phoenix any time soon. The only way to spawn another contending team is through luck of the draft. And the only foreseeable reward for this awful season in progress is a place inside the NBA lottery, where the right number of ping pong balls could lead the Suns to their next franchise player.
Maybe this situation would feel different if Nash wanted to end his career in Phoenix. But there's no evidence he'll accept the direction and pay cut coming from the new regime. And judging by the declining attendance at US Airways Center, where a famous buzz has been replaced by a sense of mourning, there is no proof that sentimentality is still selling on Planet Orange.
So, the uncomfortable questions: If the Suns are morphing into a defensive team no longer playing fast-paced basketball, what's the point of keeping Nash around? And if Nash is destined to leave after the season, why risk him working his magic, finding a groove, somehow steering this team to a middle-of-the-pack finish?
The latter would be extremely harmful. Already the owner is stigmatized for deconstructing a championship-caliber team. Imagine if another All-Star leaves without a whiff of compensation in return.
Maybe Nash is reticent to be traded in mid-season. Maybe the Suns are apprehensive of peddling one of the more popular players in team history, a 37-year old still performing at an MVP level. Maybe the solution is in Dallas, where Nash can rejoin the organization he never wanted to leave.
Mark Cuban just admitted that Nash "proved me definitely wrong," and the Mavericks owner surely would love to make amends, providing Nash with a homecoming.
The Suns can bemoan the lack of fair return on the open market. Good teams don't have good draft picks to offer. Bad teams don't need an aging player such as Nash. And it would be a lopsided exchange to send Nash for, say, a package including Jason Terry, his expiring contract and a draft pick.
All of this is true, and misses the point entirely. Look around. Rookie Markieff Morris is struggling now that he's been thrust into the starting lineup. Robin Lopez punched his ticket out of town in Tuesday's loss to the Raptors, where he (a) played less than four minutes; (b) missed his only shot; (c) fouled his man out of frustration while running down the court; (d) glared menacingly at the ref; (e) was ejected for bumping said ref on his way back to the bench; (f) and left Marcin Gortat without a backup center in a game they called a "must-win."
Alas, this team has two significant assets moving forward. It has Gortat, the center the franchise has coveted for decades. And it has a chance to be really bad in 2011-12, thus securing a very high draft pick.
This is a tough swallow. But the Suns must protect their bottom-feeder status at all costs. It's the only way out of the woods in the near future.
In the NFL, the Colts just endured a horrific season. But once they land Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick, it will have been worth the despair and then some. And if Indianapolis can say goodbye to Peyton Manning, we surely can do the same with Nash.
Again.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2012/01/26/20120126phoenix-suns-trade-steve-nash.html
Usually i find the AZcentral site tends to write fluff pieces on the Suns, and both Suns writers seem to be kinda buddy-buddy with the front office, kinda being their mouthpiece to the public. Im wondering if this is just strictly Bickley's opinion, or if a little purple & orange birdie asked him to write this to see if he could sway some of the public's opinion on trading Nash. I guess only time will tell.
