NBA Free Agents 2012: 7 Teams That Need to Sign Steve Nash This Summer
When was the last time we saw a free agent with Steve Nash's value?
He’s said to be available for reasonable – possibly for as "cheap" as the mid-level exception.
At age 38, he’s unlikely to want a contract that runs longer than three years, which is no small matter with harsh luxury tax penalties set to begin in the 2013-14 season.
And, as icing on the cake, he just happens to be one of the best point guards in the league, a dead-eye shooter and a literal molder of men.
At least a dozen teams could be bidding for his services come July 1st, but here are seven that ought to move Heaven and Earth to bring the two-time MVP into the fold.
Portland Trail Blazers
1 of 7WHY IT MIGHT HAPPEN:
With the Raymond Felton era all but over, Portland should jump into the Steve Nash sweepstakes.
The Blazers' roster is compelling: they have an elite power forward in LaMarcus Aldridge, shooting and athleticism at the wings, and a potential early-first round draft pick from the New Jersey Nets.
And, with just under $35 million in committed salary going into next season (including Jamal Crawford’s $5.22 million player option), they have more than enough cap room to both re-sign Nicolas Batum and offer Nash considerably more than the mid-level exception.
WHY IT MIGHT NOT:
The Blazers have plenty of excuses for missing the playoffs this season, some quite valid: Roy's retirement, McMillan’s ouster, Aldridge’s injury, and Matthews’ inexplicable disappearing act, to name a few.
But here are the brass tacks: Portland finished 5 games behind the Suns in this year's regular season. That, on its surface, looks like a step in the wrong direction for Nash. Ultimately, a 38 year-old point guard might not be terribly interested in the franchise's "mitigating circumstances"; not as he prepares to sign his final NBA contract.
New York Knicks
2 of 7WHY IT MIGHT HAPPEN:
Despite being thrown every curveball imaginable last season—injuries, a resignation, a death in the family—the Knicks showed that, when intact, they’re a two-way ball club that can beat any team, on any given night.
But they’d be wise to treat this resurgence as a moment in time.
Knicks power forward Amare Stoudemire’s production took a big hit his year, dropping from 25.3 PPG in 2010-11 to 17.3 PPG in 2011-12. And Tyson Chandler’s health was hardly what you’d call ideal. Given their durability concerns, seizing the chance to “win now” makes sense.
No point guard available gives them a better chance to do that than Steve Nash.
WHY IT MIGHT NOT:
It's simple—the battle for the Knicks' offense has been fought, and 'Melo won.
Anthony operates best (and often spectacularly) in isolation plays, and Mike Woodson, who recently signed a multi-year contract to remain with the Knicks, is an isolation-offense coach. Love it or hate it, this is New York Knicks ball for the foreseeable future, and it’s as antithetical to Nash’s style of play as any team in the league.
And then there's Jeremy Lin.
If you're the Knicks, do you sacrifice the younger prospect for two or three seasons with Nash? Very likely so, but not without some discomfort over the team’s long-term future, especially when Lin has shown he can produce now.
Chicago Bulls
3 of 7WHY IT MIGHT HAPPEN:
Unless Chicago decides to tank the 2012-13 season, they'll need to sign a starting-quality point guard. A Nash-led Bulls can win enough games to sneak into the playoffs with a lower seed. And once Rose returns next year—if Rose returns next year—they'll sport a point-guard tandem that gives opposing defenses two looks that are as different as they come.
WHY IT MIGHT NOT:
Of course, there’s no guarantee that Rose rejoins the Bulls during the 2012-13 season, or that he'll be effective enough to lead the team on a serious title run.
But let’s assume he does: Who, then, between Rose and Nash, signs up to play significant minutes off the ball for the first time in his career?
With Rose’s rehabilitation timetable set for a minimum of 8 months, the problem won't be that a two-point guard line-up can’t work; it'll be making it work in the middle of the season, rather than in training camp.
Miami Heat
4 of 7WHY IT MIGHT HAPPEN:
Miami already has the best transition attack in the game, and Nash would take it to heights previously unseen by this league.
Miami's offense wants for very few things, reliable outside shooting being one of them, and Nash is one of the game's best shooters.
In other words: peanut butter, meet jelly. Jelly, peanut butter.
While the promise of "Not 5, not 6, not 7..." may never become a reality, a single Miami title would be a foregone conclusion with Nash. And, scarily enough, Steve sounds like he's into it.
WHY IT MIGHT NOT:
It's hard to know where Nash stands on "ring chasing" these days.
On the one hand, he said he'd field an offer from the Miami Heat (per the link above). And on the other, we have this quote from a National Post article written a year ago:
"“Well, I mean I think for me, of course I want to win a ring,” Nash says. “But at the same time I’m like, ‘I don’t want to win it with those guys. Those guys have been the enemy for X amount of years.’ So I’m not quite in that camp yet — ‘I don’t care, put me on the best team and I’m going to try to win a ring.’ I still feel like kids from my neighbourhood want to beat the kids from that neighbourhood, like we were growing up. I’m not ready to concede, ‘Well, they’re better than us, I’ll join them.’ I’m just not there yet. Maybe I’ll get there.”
"
A year can be a long time. Hearts and minds change. But there's the lingering possibility, it seems, that Nash opts to join a team that isn't so close to being a finished product.
Indiana Pacers
5 of 7WHY IT MIGHT HAPPEN:
As constituted, the Pacers are gritty and talented and they’re easy to root for—and they have virtually no chance of getting out of the East.
What had been called a “balanced attack” in the regular season—Danny Granger led the team in scoring with a modest 17 PPG—became an offense without an identity against Miami. And when Bosh’s injury presented Indiana with a chance to establish one, they failed to exploit their size advantage by getting Hibbert and West the ball in scoring positions.
Their offense sorely needs an architect. And Nash is one of a handful of players in the game—in the game’s history, really—with the wherewithal to find his own shot while keeping all of the roster’s mouths fed.
WHY IT MIGHT NOT:
Beats me.
They have the talent to lure Nash. The cap room, too. There’s an argument to be made, I suppose, that Indiana would be better off making a max contract offer to Deron Williams or Eric Gordon, both of whom are far closer in age to the roster’s core pieces than is Nash. But doing so might come back to bite them once it's time to extend Hibbert and George who will each field eight-figure contract offers as restricted free agents.
Los Angeles Lakers
6 of 7WHY IT MIGHT HAPPEN:
If Ramon Sessions elects to opt-out of his $4.5 million player option this summer, LA will be in the market for a point guard. But what else is new?
Enter Steve Nash, who, in addition to being a bona fide playmaker—arguably their first at the position since Nick Van Exel—would bring outside shooting to a team that finished 25th in 3-point percentage in 2011-12.
WHY IT MIGHT NOT:
To some degree this comes down to what Nash is willing to sacrifice. Even with Sessions off the books, the Lakers would enter the 2012-13 season with about $79 million in committed salary, leaving only the taxpayer mid-level exception ($3.09 million) for Nash, who made $11.6 million this year.
Plus, the on-court fit isn’t exactly perfect.
Neither Bynum nor Gasol is an ideal pick-and-roll big man. The Lakers also lack the athletes a potent transition attack requires. And then there’s the adjustment to playing alongside a ball-dominant shooting guard who, to put it in his words, eats first.
Utah Jazz
7 of 7WHY IT MIGHT HAPPEN:
The Jazz are rarely mentioned as a Nash destination, perhaps because they already have a starting-caliber point guard.
But Devin Harris’ contract expires at the end of the 2012-13 season and an extension is unlikely after he posted 11.3 points and 5 assists this year.
Nash, on the other hand, could be the missing piece for a team that has talent and depth at every position, and will enter next season with added confidence after an unexpected playoff berth (as short as their run may have been).
WHY IT MIGHT NOT:
This roster is green. Awfully green.
Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors are talents; combine their ages and you have Nash’s, however. There’s little to dislike about Gordon Hayward’s skill-set but he has yet to play with month-over-month consistency. All told, the overwhelming likelihood is that Utah’s a few years away.
Unfortunately, a few years are all Nash has left.
