NBA Rumors: NY Knicks Must Spurn Jeremy Lin and Target Steve Nash

Looking ahead to the offseason, Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash could be the most sought after free agent on the market, along with All-Star guard Deron Williams.

Nash, though, got general managers around the NBA salivating last week when his comments on "The Dan Patrick Show" made it clear that the two-time MVP will sign somewhere else if the Suns don't dramatically improve their roster.

Several teams will be in the running, but as Frank Iola of the New York Daily News reported, Nash hasn't ruled out coming to the Big Apple, even though Mike D'Antoni is no longer the Knicks head coach.

If that's the case and Nash would consider playing for the Knicks, New York should spurn the thoughts of Linsanity and do what it takes to sign the two-time MVP.

It would be easy to think that you could sign Nash and keep Jeremy Lin as a backup, but that would be financially tough, considering the Knicks also need to sign some bench pieces for next season as well.

As much as I love Lin, do the Knicks really know what they have in him yet?

Lin's been very good, but 24 games as a starter is a small sample size. There's no way the Knicks front office brass knows exactly what they have in him yet. He's had his ups and downs, and he's still learning the NBA game. With the ultimate goal being a championship, he's still a risk. One that no one can predict will pay off big or not.

The two-time league MVP Nash while 38-years old has shown he's still got plenty left in the tank, leading the NBA in assists at 11.3 APG. That's also with an offensively challenged Suns team. How many more assists per game would he be averaging if he were in New York this season?

Nash gives you a better chance at winning a championship. Especially given the fact that he has chemistry with Amar'e Stoudemire and could take advantage of Stoudemire's last couple productive seasons before his body completely betrays him.

It would be nice to be able to have both Nash and Lin on the roster and allow Lin to soak up everything Nash has to offer, but by the time the starting job would open up again, Lin would be an unrestricted free agent.

There aren't many point guards in the NBA that would be worth spurning Lin for, but the opportunity to bring in Nash and take a run at a championship could be too big to resist.

He's more of a sure thing, and if the Knicks could get it done, it's the right move to make.