Rumor: Suns, Nash have agreed on sign-and-trade
Jun 5, 2012, 2:54 PM | Updated: 4:23 pm
The Steve Nash saga continues.
The two-time NBA MVP is less than a month away from
hitting the free agent market, and nobody knows if he’ll
end his playing days in Phoenix or if he’ll pursue his
first championship ring with another team.
Hoopsworld.com is
reporting that if Nash does decide to
leave the Suns after eight seasons, that he and the
organization have agreed that the Suns would sign Nash to
a contract and then deal him to another team. Yes, the
old sign-and-trade.
Word has is Nash and the Suns have agreed that
if Nash is leaving Phoenix that the franchise would help
facilitate a sign and trade deal to insure Steve gets the
maximum dollars for his services and the Suns get
something in return for him. Meaning all bets are off on
where Nash lands, as cap space and exception money won’t
be a huge factor.The Suns have made it clear they would do a multi-year
deal for Nash in the $10 million per year range to insure
Nash stays in Phoenix.
Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby has said
on numerous occasions that the Phoenix front office and
Nash’s people will be on the same page regardless of where
the future Hall-of-Famer chooses to play.
“No matter what happens, we’ll be in partnership with him
through this process and we need to find a common ground –
– a ground that works for him and works for us, and if we
can do that, I think it will become obvious pretty
quickly,” Babby told Burns and
Gambo on Arizona Sports 620 last month.
While many Suns fans would be upset if Nash opted to
explore other opportunities, the possibility of a sign-and-trade
deal would soften the blow, allowing the Suns to
get something in return for one of the most popular
players in franchise history.
There has been no shortage of teams popping up in rumors
about Nash’s future NBA address — Portland, Miami, New
York, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando to name a few. A future
sign-and-trade deal orchestrated by the Suns would expand
that list of potential suitors even more.
