Keep Nash or trade Nash?

[sunsfan88]

I know the FO has repeatedly said they won't trade Nash unless he asks for one but do YOU think the Suns should trade Nash or keep him?

I personally want us to trade him. Even if his trade value is low, just trade him and we should be able to get some assets for him but even if we don't at least we will have a better draft pick. If we keep him, my bet is that we will end up with the #12 or #13 pick in the draft. I think the Suns have MAJOR issues at all positions except for center so I don't think any trade (unless it nets us Durant, LBJ, Howard or someone like that) can help us contend for a title this season.

Suns just can't play Nashball anymore. In order to play Nashball we need to have athletic players all over the court (Marion, Amare, Bell, JJ etc) We don't have that any longer and our offense just stalls these days.

For the best of this team, its better Nash leaves. Guys can start adjusting to playing without him.

The sooner we trade Nash, the faster we can (hopefully) rebuild to become a title contender. On the other hand we can keep Nash, and stay mediocre and miss out on the big stars of the extremely talented 2012 draft.

I would like ALL Suns fans to vote on this, so please participate. Thank you.

 

[SunsFan89]

I have thought about this a lot and here is what I think.

The Suns should keep Steve Nash for a number of reasons.

We are a better team with Steve Nash and he makes everyone better around him even at 38 and playing at a high level if we trade Steve Nash we are probably the worst team in the NBA maybe of a long time, yea we would get a top 3 draft pick but what if the pick turns out to be a bust? just saying. Trading Steve Nash would be a slap in the face to one of the greatest if not the greatest player to ever put on a Suns uni, Steve Nash has given his all this franchise and he deserves to stay. Another reason I believe he should stay is because its not in the FO's plans to trade Steve Nash, I believe that our FO's wants to build around Steve Nash. The Suns have their draft picks & cash to do so. And the final reason of why I think Steve Nash should stay is because he wants to be here, Steve Nash is loyal to this franchise and we as Suns Fans have to appreciate that.

Finals thoughts-Steve Nash makes the team better, you don't trade your best player away to help another team and get worst. Yes I know the Suns would get a better draft pick if Nash leaves but thats about the only good thing, the Suns will have the cap this offseason im not saying they will spend it all but im sure they will attempt to make the team better. The only way you entertain trading Steve Nash is if its the right deal that makes sense.

 

[sunsfan88]

I have thought about this a lot and here is what I think.

The Suns should keep Steve Nash for a number of reasons.

We are a better team with Steve Nash and he makes everyone better around him even at 38 and playing at a high level if we trade Steve Nash we are probably the worst team in the NBA maybe of a long time, yea we would get a top 3 draft pick but what if the pick turns out to be a bust? just saying. Trading Steve Nash would be a slap in the face to one of the greatest if not the greatest player to ever put on a Suns uni, Steve Nash has given his all this franchise and he deserves to stay. Another reason I believe he should stay is because its not in the FO's plans to trade Steve Nash, I believe that our FO's wants to build around Steve Nash. The Suns have their draft picks & cash to do so. And the final reason of why I think Steve Nash should stay is because he wants to be here, Steve Nash is loyal to this franchise and we as Suns Fans have to appreciate that.

Finals thoughts-Steve Nash makes the team better, you don't trade your best player away to help another team and get worst. Yes I know the Suns would get a better draft pick if Nash leaves but thats about the only good thing, the Suns will have the cap this offseason im not saying they will spend it all but im sure they will attempt to make the team better. The only way you entertain trading Steve Nash is if its the right deal that makes sense.

Has building around a 40 year old player ever worked for any team in NBA history?

 

[SunsFan89]

Has building around a 40 year old player ever worked for any team in NBA history?

Im not sure but if the Suns play their cards right they could be an Elite Team again with Steve Nash if he is still here. Just depends on what they do in the offseason and next years offseason.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Count me skeptical about a 1 year rebuild. There is only one way to do it. Nash needs to get injured now, or the Suns just get really lucky in the lottery. They pick up Anthony Davis in the draft. They then pick up a quality scoring guard in free agency.

To me, the only player in this draft that could turn a team like the Suns around just by adding him would be Davis. Davis could play the 3, 4, or 5 positions imo.

It might be possible to bring in Deron Williams to run a Nash/Williams combo back court. I think that could work.

Before anyone flames me, I am just saying what it would take. I don't think any of this has a chance of flying.

For Nash to stay and this to work, Nash has to become the #3 piece on the team.

So, a team of

SNash
DWilliams
ADavis
MMorris
MGortat

Its crazy. It won't happen. So thats it.

 

[jasonC]

I realize Steve Nash is 38 years old but I don't realize why it matters because he is still playing great basketball with no signs of decline. When he starts to lose it, then you can start complaining about age but until then it shouldn't be an issue. Your opinions should be based on performance not what might happen someday. I think Nash is the best player to ever wear a Suns uniform.

 

[sunsfan88]

Nash may be playing great basketball with no signs of decline but that doesn't mean the Suns as a team are doing well.

We are horrible right now and changes need to be made.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm not certain that our fortunes will ever improve because of the decision to trade Nash. However, I'm slightly more certain our fortunes will not improve if we make the decision to keep him. IOW, we're probably damned if we do but almost certainly damned if we don't.

Steve

 

[WildBB]

Ok, I'm in the minority here, but lets have a full fledged Sun, retire as one.

If you want, make up something (or don't) and limit his minutes. After all he's 38!

Get him the help he needs. FA or a high draft pick.

You won't get anywhere near anything worthwhile for him right now.

 

[jagu]

Reason to trade Nash: We need to rebuild
Reason not to trade Nash: We'll watch Sebastian Telfair run point.

 

[Lorenzo]

I'm not certain that our fortunes will ever improve because of the decision to trade Nash. However, I'm slightly more certain our fortunes will not improve if we make the decision to keep him. IOW, we're probably damned if we do but almost certainly damned if we don't.

Steve

I know I'm not a suns fan, but I am a huge nash fan and feel he is definitely partially responsible for the remergence of the mavericks eventhough he has been gone for so long. watching him carve the mavs that first year he went to phoenix was like a nightmare, but I was proud to see him win those MVP awards. and in some weird way I think it was destiny that he had to leave dallas for he and dirk to achieve their full potential.

I'm with you steve. this is a 50/50 judgement call and no one knows the right answer right now. You won't know what is right until a few years from now and your able to look back and say, "damn i'm glad we kept him" or "damn we should have traded him" since you can't do that now and its 50/50 I think you go to steve and ask him what he wants. I know the business side says to keep him because he is your lone star, but he has no chance of winning in phoenix and his precious final years are being wasted. They owe it to steve to go to him and ask him if he wants to be traded or if he wants to retire as a sun. Have they done this yet?

 

[Superbone]

Has building around a 40 year old player ever worked for any team in NBA history?

I guess we'll have to wait two years and see.

 

[SirStefan32]

We are not going to get anything of value for Nash anyway, so I think the Suns should keep him for PR reasons.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I think that we could get more for Nash than most people think, especially if he commits to reup with the new team. At the very least his minutes need to be reduced significantly.

Play Telfair alot. Surest way to tank.

 

[mojorizen7]

Trade him....2 years ago.
Now? It doesn't really matter,but yeah...trade him anyway. It will FORCE a rebuild if nothing else.

 

[Beaver]

Where is Sunsfan87?

 

[sunsfan88]

I think we could at the very least get a 1st rd pick for Nash which sure is a heck of a lot more than nothing that too in a talented draft like the one coming up.

 

[Michael]

Has building around a 40 year old player ever worked for any team in NBA history?

In NBA history, no team building around a 40 year old player ever failed to win the championship!

 

[Budden]

I'm not certain that our fortunes will ever improve because of the decision to trade Nash. However, I'm slightly more certain our fortunes will not improve if we make the decision to keep him. IOW, we're probably damned if we do but almost certainly damned if we don't.

Steve

Steve, I like many of your posts. They're thoughtful, well written, well informed, and always respectful. I appreciate that, and I am purposefully quoting you because I think most people who frequent this board think highly of you as well. So I don't mean any disrespect when I say that you, and everyone else who thinks it's a good idea to trade Steve Nash, are wrong. It's not iffy, it's not a "well, I can see your point, but on the other hand..." kind of thing. It's a, "You are incorrect." thing.

The Suns are going to have a ton of money to spend this offseason, and the goal for the Suns needs to be to use that money to make big, franchise-changing acquisitions. We are also a team that is in a middle-market with an owner with one of the worst reputation amongst the players in this league, who hasn't shown any earnest commitment to pay up for the players who will be able to win a championship.

We do have one thing going for us, though: great players want to play with Steve Nash. Dwight Howard recently called out his teammates for not competing, saying (not exactly, but something like) "if you don't want to play, stay in the locker room. Don't suit up. I'm out there working as hard as I can every single day and some guys just don't care." You think Steve Nash is the kind of player that Dwight thinks should stay in the locker room, or do you think he's the kind of guy Howard would give his left arm sleeve to get to play with? And, he probably would be okay with the extra 9 or 10 points per game Nash would create for him.

Nash legitimately makes his teammates better. If you're so desperate to make a trade, you would be smart to keep Steve Nash so that the other 13 guys on the team might have some trade value. We traded J. Rich for Gortat, and that trade was possible because Richardson was playing legit all-star basketball before being traded to Orlando. Now, J. Rich averages 12 ppg on 44% shooting instead of almost 20ppg on 47% shooting when he was with the Suns. Right now, Marcin Gortat is a very valuable trade piece. You take Nash off of this roster, and his trade value will come down significantly.

Bottom line, everybody knows that Steve Nash is not the future of this franchise. But he IS a great bridge to the future.

 

[Ninjafish]

Trade Nash, more for his sake than any other reason. It's sad for him to waste the tail end of his career with a crappy team not making the playoffs. But he's too nice of a guy to force a trade. It's selfish to keep him here and it's not doing anything good for the Suns anyway. He can't save this team. Right now he's just keeping the Suns from getting a top lottery pick.

 

[Superbone]

Great post, Budden. The same reasons I'm for keeping him. If the right things fall into place next year, we could be very good.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

If the right things fall into place next year, we could be very good.

You among others keep pushing this Sarver fed nonsense. Of course it's a more palatable sell to try and fool people that this is a team that is a couple moves away from "reloading" and getting back to being competitive soon. Of course this is the same "brain trust" that thought it was wise to lock up Channing, Turk, Hak and Chilz, ruining any flexibility we would have.

If you people really believe this to be a realistic strategy, please support this belief with a legitimate rebuilding plan based around upcoming FA's and a 8-15 pick in the draft.

Please name a realisitic "franchise-changing acquisition." Either
"The Truth" Budden or you are free to elaborate on this one. Give me specific names of people who are FA this year who would choose to join the Suns.

Keep in mind that this supposes:

A. Nash, at 38, after not sniffing the playoffs in the last 2 years, decides against all logic to to come back to arguably the least talented roster in the league. Without Nash, there is little argument that this is a bottom 3 roster. Further, do you really think Nash will come back at a hometown discount, or accept less than the 12-13 million alone to retain him?

B. That anyone would consider playing with Nash for a year or two as a legitimate selling point. Using Nash as a selling point has helped us pick up former gimps and malcontents. Grant Hill, Tim Thomas, Jimmy Jackson and Michael Redd have been ok additions, but what stars have come to Phoenix to play for the Suns? Has any major potential free agent even mentioned Phoenix as an option?

C. It's common knowledge throughout the league that our owner is the biggest prick in the league, and is more concerned with the bottom line than putting together a championship squad. Further, while an above average destination, we have neither the talent nor the big city appeal that nearly all top free agents are attracted to. Finally, the majority of agents hate our owner, which will color the opinions of their clients.

So to recap: We have three legit NBA players, 2 of who will be free agents this offseason and both among the oldest players in the league. Other than that, every other player is below average, with Morris and his low ceiling as the only young player with any potential. Additionally, we have one of the worst owners in the NBA, and a city that has never attracted a superstar.

Please, PLEASE explain to me specifically who and how your pipe dream will come to reality.

 

[sunsfan88]

Steve, I like many of your posts. They're thoughtful, well written, well informed, and always respectful. I appreciate that, and I am purposefully quoting you because I think most people who frequent this board think highly of you as well. So I don't mean any disrespect when I say that you, and everyone else who thinks it's a good idea to trade Steve Nash, are wrong. It's not iffy, it's not a "well, I can see your point, but on the other hand..." kind of thing. It's a, "You are incorrect." thing.

The Suns are going to have a ton of money to spend this offseason, and the goal for the Suns needs to be to use that money to make big, franchise-changing acquisitions. We are also a team that is in a middle-market with an owner with one of the worst reputation amongst the players in this league, who hasn't shown any earnest commitment to pay up for the players who will be able to win a championship.

We do have one thing going for us, though: great players want to play with Steve Nash. Dwight Howard recently called out his teammates for not competing, saying (not exactly, but something like) "if you don't want to play, stay in the locker room. Don't suit up. I'm out there working as hard as I can every single day and some guys just don't care." You think Steve Nash is the kind of player that Dwight thinks should stay in the locker room, or do you think he's the kind of guy Howard would give his left arm sleeve to get to play with? And, he probably would be okay with the extra 9 or 10 points per game Nash would create for him.

Nash legitimately makes his teammates better. If you're so desperate to make a trade, you would be smart to keep Steve Nash so that the other 13 guys on the team might have some trade value. We traded J. Rich for Gortat, and that trade was possible because Richardson was playing legit all-star basketball before being traded to Orlando. Now, J. Rich averages 12 ppg on 44% shooting instead of almost 20ppg on 47% shooting when he was with the Suns. Right now, Marcin Gortat is a very valuable trade piece. You take Nash off of this roster, and his trade value will come down significantly.

Bottom line, everybody knows that Steve Nash is not the future of this franchise. But he IS a great bridge to the future.

Steve, I like many of your posts. They're thoughtful, well written, well informed, and always respectful. I appreciate that, and I am purposefully quoting you because I think most people who frequent this board think highly of you as well. So I don't mean any disrespect when I say that you, and everyone else who thinks it's a good idea to trade Steve Nash, are wrong. It's not iffy, it's not a "well, I can see your point, but on the other hand..." kind of thing. It's a, "You are incorrect." thing.

The Suns are going to have a ton of money to spend this offseason, and the goal for the Suns needs to be to use that money to make big, franchise-changing acquisitions. We are also a team that is in a middle-market with an owner with one of the worst reputation amongst the players in this league, who hasn't shown any earnest commitment to pay up for the players who will be able to win a championship.

We do have one thing going for us, though: great players want to play with Steve Nash. Dwight Howard recently called out his teammates for not competing, saying (not exactly, but something like) "if you don't want to play, stay in the locker room. Don't suit up. I'm out there working as hard as I can every single day and some guys just don't care." You think Steve Nash is the kind of player that Dwight thinks should stay in the locker room, or do you think he's the kind of guy Howard would give his left arm sleeve to get to play with? And, he probably would be okay with the extra 9 or 10 points per game Nash would create for him.

Nash legitimately makes his teammates better. If you're so desperate to make a trade, you would be smart to keep Steve Nash so that the other 13 guys on the team might have some trade value. We traded J. Rich for Gortat, and that trade was possible because Richardson was playing legit all-star basketball before being traded to Orlando. Now, J. Rich averages 12 ppg on 44% shooting instead of almost 20ppg on 47% shooting when he was with the Suns. Right now, Marcin Gortat is a very valuable trade piece. You take Nash off of this roster, and his trade value will come down significantly.

Bottom line, everybody knows that Steve Nash is not the future of this franchise. But he IS a great bridge to the future.

I dont understand how you think Nash can attract guys like Dwight Howard to PHX. Your right on point with the Sarver sucks so nobody wants to play here thing but then you use Howard as a a possible exampleof coming here if we keep Nash.

Nash is 38 years old believe it or not. He has probably the most trade value out of any of our players however. Keeping him this year and resigning him for the next two will not even give us a chance to be good anytime soon. If we keep Nash chances are we end up with a lottery pick and with most good FAs gone from the market, who the hell are we gonna sign that can make that big of a difference? Nobody

If we trade Nash and get at least a first rd pick for him, we are giving ourselves a chance at being real good again with us sucking so bad without Nash we will get a top 5 pick and we can try our luck and use that pick + the one we get from the Nash trade to draft at least one player who's a franchise player instead of always drafting the Earl Clarks and Robin Lopezes of the league.

 

[slinslin]

Please name a realisitic "franchise-changing acquisition." Either
"The Truth" Budden or you are free to elaborate on this one. Give me specific names of people who are FA this year who would choose to join the Suns.

A high lottery pick, that is the only realistic chance and it won't turn us around immediately.

Even if this team signed Eric Gordon and Nicolas Batum they would still be a .500 team at best next season and their salary cap future would be awful as they would have to overpay for both these guys and Batum really is a glorified role player only. Realistically worth about as much as Dudley only.

 

[slinslin]

The Suns are going to have a ton of money to spend this offseason, and the goal for the Suns needs to be to use that money to make big, franchise-changing acquisitions. We are also a team that is in a middle-market with an owner with one of the worst reputation amongst the players in this league, who hasn't shown any earnest commitment to pay up for the players who will be able to win a championship.

There are no free agents available like that and even the middle of the pack free agents are almost all restricted and would have to be overpaid.

We do have one thing going for us, though: great players want to play with Steve Nash. Dwight Howard recently called out his teammates for not competing, saying (not exactly, but something like) "if you don't want to play, stay in the locker room. Don't suit up. I'm out there working as hard as I can every single day and some guys just don't care." You think Steve Nash is the kind of player that Dwight thinks should stay in the locker room, or do you think he's the kind of guy Howard would give his left arm sleeve to get to play with? And, he probably would be okay with the extra 9 or 10 points per game Nash would create for him.

Sorry dude, Steve Nash is turning 39 next year, no star is going to come here and commit to a team to play 1 or 2 more years with an old Steve Nash and if you keep Steve Nash you are not going to have all that much caproom anyway.
Do you realize that all this 2 max free agent talk requires the Suns to renounce all rights to all their players? Then amnesty Childress and waive Frye or Warrick and then still make a minor deal to get that much caproom?

Nash legitimately makes his teammates better. If you're so desperate to make a trade, you would be smart to keep Steve Nash so that the other 13 guys on the team might have some trade value. We traded J. Rich for Gortat, and that trade was possible because Richardson was playing legit all-star basketball before being traded to Orlando. Now, J. Rich averages 12 ppg on 44% shooting instead of almost 20ppg on 47% shooting when he was with the Suns. Right now, Marcin Gortat is a very valuable trade piece. You take Nash off of this roster, and his trade value will come down significantly.

Maybe so, but GMs are not that dumb. We didn't exactly win the Gortat trade seeing how our record had been better before the trade. At least we dumped salary.

Also Richardson had seasons like that for Golden State before. Maybe you should take into account that JRich has lost a lot of explosiveness and is getting old and reduced to mostly spot up shooting for Orlando.

Bottom line, everybody knows that Steve Nash is not the future of this franchise. But he IS a great bridge to the future.

Yeah a great bridge that keeps you from getting someone like Anthony Davis in the NBA who could be the bridge to the future. Nash is the bright to NBA meciodrity.