NBA Rumors: Phoenix Suns Would Be Insane to Re-Sign Steve Nash

Phoenix Suns fans would love to see the franchise re-sign Steve Nash. After beginning his career with the team (two seasons), Nash has been with the club since the 2004-05 campaign.

Bringing the two-time MVP is a nice thought in theory, but the Suns need to let go of the past and move forward toward the future.

That means it's time for Robert Sarver, Alvin Gentry and the entire Phoenix front office to wave goodbye to Nash.

The writing has been on the wall for some time. Nash has already said that he won't return to the Suns unless he sees "improvement" on the roster.

Although the team is in a good place from a salary cap perspective, signing a 38-year-old point guard to a multi-year deal is not the way to go about rebuilding this team into a playoff contender.

I understand Nash is still playing at an extremely high level. I understand what Nash has meant to the Suns both on and off the court.

That's part of the reason Phoenix should let him walk out of the door and have no regrets about it.

The Suns roster needs a lot of work.

Beyond signing a point guard of the future, Phoenix needs to add a backup center behind Marcin Gortat, bring in some help on the wing for the second unit as well as find a new starting small forward.

But it's more than just that.

Who is going to be the backup point guard to whoever is anointed the new starter? Will the team find a shooting guard to play behind Jared Dudley?

Shouldn't the Suns be looking for a young star like Eric Gordon to pair with Gortat as a formidable one-two punch moving forward?

It's going to be a busy offseason for Lon Babby and his cohorts.

Or is it?

Here is what Babby had to say about his offseason plans, as quoted by the Arizona Republic.

"

There's a distinct possibility that we don't use our cap room this summer.

We've worked hard to put ourselves in this position to have this kind of flexibility, to have a range of opportunities, but I'm absolutely determined that we are going to be disciplined in how we approach this because we cannot get ourselves right back in the same spot we were in by doing bad contracts, not assessing value properly, not making the right choices in terms of personnel.

"

So maybe the Suns won't be so active in the free-agent market this summer.

After all, when signing players to lucrative deals, teams are supposed to be paying for future performance rather than what the player has done in the past.

With terrible contracts like Josh Childress and Hakim Warrick in the fold, Babby understands that the team can't continue to make poor decisions.

It only takes one bad contract to hamstring a team from year to year, and the Suns need to be very cautious about the plan in free agency.

After reading Babby's comments and understanding where the Suns stand as a team, it's really difficult to justify how Nash conceivably fits into the picture.

Separating emotion from business can be one of the hardest decisions any general manager has to make in any sport, but we've seen teams hang onto players for too long and have it blow up in their face.

Phoenix can't afford to do that with Nash, nor does Nash want to be a part of a rebuild at this stage of his career.

It might not sit well with some Suns fans, but Babby strongly hints that a parting of the ways with Nash is a very realistic scenario (via Associated Press).

"

Everybody here wants Steve Nash to retire as a Phoenix Sun and we're going to work very hard to work with him to see if that can happen, but it's got to be good not only for him but it's got to be good for us, and he understands that.

"

That's a telling comment. Some might view it as a slap in the face to a player who has given so much to this team, but Babby understands the realities of what it will take to make his club better.

Good for Babby. That's his job. He works for the team, not for the fans.

However, Nash isn't one of those veterans that is going to have to take a pay cut to continue playing.

Posting the best field-goal percentage (53.2 percent) he's had since the 2006-07 season, Nash played in 62 games this season with impressive averages of 12.5 points and 10.7 assists per game.

Suns fans, it's okay to be upset about Nash leaving the team. I totally understand that feeling.

But if you're really a fan of this team and not just a fan of Nash, you should be rooting for Nash to land with a championship contender.

Both parties would be best served by moving on next season.