NBA Free Agency 2012: Is Steve Nash the Missing Piece for the Knicks?

Without having a chance to collect their breath from the annihilation given to them at the hands of the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks head into another summer filled with more questions than answers.

But in Amar'e Stoudemire's mind, those questions could be solved by reuniting himself with a former teammate in New York—and he's a pretty good point guard even at his age.

According to The New York Daily News, Stoudemire told the paper that he would love to have former Phoenix Suns teammate and two-time league MVP Steve Nash bring his league-leading 11 assists per game and 38-year-old self to the Big Apple.

On paper, this could be a dream made in heaven by reuniting the deadly combo of Nash and Stoudemire that led the Suns to Western Conference prominence in the last decade.

Things have obviously changed since then. Stoudemire is one-half of the superstar combination with Carmelo Anthony and Nash has continued to produce great numbers with little to no talent around him, and is running out of time in his career to get a championship ring.

However, the Knicks should take some caution and, at the same time, take some serious consideration on possibly bringing the future Hall of Fame point guard to Madison Square Garden.

The first, and obvious, factor in regarding Nash is his age. It's wonderful to see that he's still putting up double-digit assists at 38 years old, but it's a big question on how much longer his career will go on for. He can still shoot and pass with the best of them, but would it be worth it to invest in the short term?

As if they haven't done that already, right?

The second thing regarding Nash is the money he would get, and even at his age, it's a hefty price. The Knicks can only offer Nash the mid-level exception after signing their version of the Big Three to big-time contracts. And the Suns are willing to offer Nash a two-year, $20 million deal to return to Phoenix, whereas the Knicks' MLE would only be in the proximity of $5 million a year.

And perhaps the biggest question revolving around the Knicks would be what to do with Jeremy Lin as he also enters free agency. It goes without saying that if it wasn't for Lin, New York might not have even been in the playoffs this year.

Lin's style of play unfortunately conflicts with making Anthony happy, being a score-first point guard, and the Knicks couldn't afford to keep both Lin and Nash. It's already mind boggling that they have five point guards, let alone two that could start on any other team in the league.

However, looking away from all of that, if Nash were to come to New York, he'd instantly put the Knicks in position to capture a high seed in the playoffs and a chance to get out of the first round. After that, it'd be anybody's guess.

Nash wouldn't look to score 20 points a game, and his court vision and passing ability would make Anthony, Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler very happy. But the risk far outweighs the reward at this point, especially if Lin won't be returning to New York.

Keep in mind, there are other teams that would more than love to take Nash right now—most notably the Dallas Mavericks and the Heat.

If the Mavs can't pick up Deron Williams in free agency, then Nash will more than likely be Option 1A, and Miami has been looking for a pass-first point guard who can throw lob passes to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and know where to give them the ball.

It's hard to look back at NBA history and see if any 38-year-old was as a coveted free agent as much as Nash is.

He deserves a championship, and if New York is the answer, then no one will complain.