Suns Meet with Nash

[thegrahamcrackr]

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

DALLAS -- After a morning meeting with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, star guard Steve Nash was greeted Thursday afternoon here by the most decorated group of free-agent lobbyists the Phoenix Suns could assemble.

A traveling party headed by Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, son and team president Bryan Colangelo and new owner Robert Sarver flew into town at lunch time to make their recruiting pitch to Nash. Also joining the group was Suns franchise forward Amare Stoudemire.


Referring to the morning negotations with Cuban, Nash's agent Bill Duffy said: "It was a good meeting. Mark made it very clear that re-signing Steve is a priority." Duffy also represents Stoudemire.


Phoenix, according to league sources, is Dallas' strongest competition for Nash, who has said repeatedly that his first choice is re-signing with the Mavericks and spending the rest of his career playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki.


The Suns originally drafted the 30-year-old in 1996 and Nash never sold his home in the Phoenix area. Although the Suns have also extended a lucrative contract offer to the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, many league insiders doubt any team outside of L.A. -- the Lakers or the Clippers -- have realistic hopes of luring Bryant away from Southern California.


The Mavericks are said to be preparing a four-year offer to Nash as opposed to a six-year maximum for a player his age.

At least the suns aren't going to put everything on hold while they wait for Kobe.

 

[Joe Mama]

I like that they are bringing Amare Stoudemire along. If there's any doubt who they are building the franchise around there shouldn't be. It is Amare.

Joe Mama

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I like that they are bringing Amare Stoudemire along. If there's any doubt who they are building the franchise around there shouldn't be. It is Amare.

Joe Mama

You think he is going to see Kobe too??

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Anyways, how long do you think the Suns wait for Kobe? I doubt he will just say No to the Suns right off the bat, he most likely will try and draw it out as long as possible.

 

[scotsman13]

Anyways, how long do you think the Suns wait for Kobe? I doubt he will just say No to the Suns right off the bat, he most likely will try and draw it out as long as possible.

if i were him i would want to get this done asap. i want to get this off my mind. so that i can focus on the rape case and my upcoming devorce. also giving half of everything i own to someone woman who was just after my money.


hey maybe that is who his defense team has been talking about all along. it was his wife that sleep with 3 men while kobe was in colarado

 

[Skkorpion]

Nash. What a surprise.

Next we'll sign some white guy euro who can't play defense either. It's all coming together nicely. Next year, we can fire another coach.

Actually, Nash would be probably a good pickup, but at what price? Both in terms of $$$ and opportunities given up.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Skkorp - instead of just lobbing bombs at the Suns - why don't you explain to us what you think we should do - and be specific because your constant negativity here and little quips are almost becoming Tango-esque - come on man - I want to know what Skkorp thinks the Suns should do this offseason - at least then we could talk basketball.

 

[Skkorpion]

Skkorp - instead of just lobbing bombs at the Suns - why don't you explain to us what you think we should do - and be specific because your constant negativity here and little quips are almost becoming Tango-esque - come on man - I want to know what Skkorp thinks the Suns should do this offseason - at least then we could talk basketball.

Fire Bryan Colangelo right now and let the new guys handle free agency.

 

[SweetD]

Fire Bryan Colangelo right now and let the new guys handle free agency.

Bryan is part of the investment group that owns the Suns now. Not sure he will be going anywere for at least 3 years.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Fire Bryan Colangelo right now and let the new guys handle free agency.

and do what in FA?

 

[Skkorpion]

and do what in FA?

I have no solutions to suggest in free agency,other than go big and don't go white. I personally don't think there is a free agent out there who can help us win more than 2 or 3 more games. Other than Kobe, that is.

We needed to keep our draft picks, but that's gone.

Quite simply, with the Colangelos at the helm, there is no hope. I quit saying that because people objected, but it's the truth. Baseball killed Jerry's interest in the suns.

I'll tell you what I'll do. The Suns are setting up another coach to be fired. I'll stay off this board until Bryan Colangelo gets fired as GM.

Until then, only till then, adios.

 

[SweetD]

I have no solutions to suggest in free agency,other than go big and don't go white. I personally don't think there is a free agent out there who can help us win more than 2 or 3 more games. Other than Kobe, that is.

We needed to keep our draft picks, but that's gone.

Quite simply, with the Colangelos at the helm, there is no hope. I quit saying that because people objected, but it's the truth. Baseball killed Jerry's interest in the suns.

I'll tell you what I'll do. The Suns are setting up another coach to be fired. I'll stay off this board until Bryan Colangelo gets fired as GM.

Until then, only till then, adios.

 

[cepstrum]

I have no solutions to suggest in free agency,other than go big and don't go white. I personally don't think there is a free agent out there who can help us win more than 2 or 3 more games. Other than Kobe, that is.

As much as I was opposed to getting steve nash before, I actually think he would be a pretty good fit for reasonable money now. Obviously kobe is the number one choice, but if that doesnt pan out, I wouldnt mind seeing nash in a suns uni. As far as the 'not going white' comment, thats just crazy. Steve Nash is a grade A point guard. I can only think of about 3 or 4 better than him in the league. He would help out a lot in terms of ball movement. We missed that last year. Defensively he's not very good, but that just means that he would fit in even better with the current crew

 

[Cheesebeef]

I have no solutions to suggest in free agency,other than go big and don't go white. I personally don't think there is a free agent out there who can help us win more than 2 or 3 more games. Other than Kobe, that is.

We needed to keep our draft picks, but that's gone.

WELL - I agree with all of the above. Don't go white makes a hell of a lot of sense to me especially with Okur out there - I will scream if we sign that douche.

 

[slinslin]

If we offer Nash a starting salary of 7M$, I hope we go for Camby and offer him 6-7M$ and Foyle 2-3M$. Plus Wesley Person for the veteran minimum.

Camby is by far the best center available.

Camby/Foyle/Voshkul
Amare/Lampe
Marion/Zarko
JJ/Jacobsen/Person
Nash/Barbosa

 

[yotes1921]

Skkorpion, why do you post on this board at all? Every one of your posts are negative, you hate Colangelos, you hate white basketball players no matter how good they are. Can you bring anything positive to the discussion?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Skkorpion, why do you post on this board at all? Every one of your posts are negative, you hate Colangelos, you hate white basketball players no matter how good they are. Can you bring anything positive to the discussion?

just curious, but you DO know that asfn is skorp's baby, right?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

in my opinion, if we don't get kobe we're just plain screwed. we can pick up the nashes, dampiers, okurs, barrys, cambys, etc. but none of those guys is gonna be a missing piece to bring us a championship in a few years. that said, we cleared all that space, and in so doing we traded away marbury, and three first round selections. you give up that much you better bring in a star. you don't and you've just set yourself up for failure. and all that cap room will start disappearing mighty quickly when we have to resign jj and/or amare, 'cuz if jj's resignable he'll get a near max contract, and amare will undoubtedly get a max contract, so there goes all that cap space . . . that will never have been used.

yeah, i'm a fatalist. i used to be an optimist when it came to the colangelo's moves, but this past year has been absolutely baffling and i can't help to think of the mcdyess fiasco, the googs signing and the longley signing and wonder . . . have the colangeli lost it? no kobe, no increased interest. they'll just be the same ho-hum suns to me. i'll still be a rabid fan, but i just won't be that excited about our future. i see a lot of 45 win seasons in store for us.

 

[slinslin]

Steve Nash is a star and quite possibly better PG than Marbury.

If we sign Nash, Camby and Divac it would still be.

Marbury and Hardaway for Nash, Camby, Divac, Lampe, Vujanic, 3M$ cash, Plus all the luxury tax savings etc from the Googs trade.

 

[yotes1921]

just curious, but you DO know that asfn is skorp's baby, right?

So Skorp established this forum to spew his hatred for the Colangelos and white basketball players? You see I just come here to find out information and share information about my favorite team. There are a lot of great posters here, it’s just sad that the guy who started this board is so negative.

 

[elindholm]

I don't think Bryant will sign anywhere until the Lakers deal with the O'Neal situation. That's really the first domino in the chain. Once O'Neal is traded, or not, then Bryant decides what to do and then all the other FAs fall into place.

 

[Lars the Red]

Personally, I'd love to see Kobe in a Suns uni, but signing Nash and say Dampier or Foyle or Camby or Barry or Ginobli, would definitely make the Suns a better team. What I can't understand is why guys can't be understanding about taking some babysteps in building the org. There will be some quality big guys available next year, and even with Kobe, I don't think we can realistically challenge for the title next season. Why not build some depth, get experience for the younger guys, and keep going in an upward direction? Googs, Penny, White, Marbury, those guys are gone. We need some additional players, but TMac wasn't going to take us to the championship and I really doubt Kobe could with the current roster. Look at the Pistons and see what they did with a deep team and bunch of solid players. The Lakers couldn't compete with 2 superstars. Depth beat the Stars.

 

[elindholm]

The Suns will be a few steps away from a championship contender no matter what happens this summer. So they might as well try to get one of the big pieces -- a top-five player. Detroit won without one, but that's an anomaly. The Suns can add more pieces in coming years, whether they get Bryant now or not. And with Bryant still yet to enter his prime years (to say nothing of Stoudemire), there wouldn't be any need for a big hurry.

 

[3rdside]

"The Suns will be a few steps away from a championship contender no matter what happens this summer. So they might as well try to get one of the big pieces -- a top-five player. Detroit won without one, but that's an anomaly."

You say its an anomaly but i'd be guessing that it will turn into the norm in years to come. To me, depth is becoming extremely important in all sports - soccer, rugby union, cricket have all shown how important depth is.

In basketball i'd say this will become the norm too. Obviously you need some individuals who are world class but the days of a couple of all stars and trash won't, i don't think, cut it for much longer.

 

[George O'Brien]

I like Nash, but I really hate overpaying for a guy who doesn't play much defense. To me, a deal starting at $7 million is too much even if the Suns can afford it.