Could Williams replace Nash at the box office?
Jun 22, 2011, 9:00 PM | Updated: 10:13 pm
If the Phoenix Suns were to trade Steve Nash they would not only be losing their point guard, but the face of the franchise as well.
The most well-known Sun, the team would have to weigh the on-court losses as well as the ones at the box office, as they’d surely have to find a new star to lead them in the post-Nash era.
If the plan is to trade Nash for the No. 2 pick in the draft and acquire Derrick Williams, that is something the organization would have to keep in mind.
“Does he have that same kind of buzz that Steve Nash does, can he possibly be expected to replace Steve Nash as the face of the Phoenix Suns franchise and the one that will take you down to US Airways Center and have you buy a ticket, and have you buy a jersey and have you buy a $5 beer,” Dave Burns asked on Sports 620 KTAR’s Sports Interactive. “I don’t think Derrick Williams is big enough to make a deal like that.”
The Suns find themselves walking a thin line when it comes to Nash because while he is the team’s best player, it’s tough to say just how much of a draw he is.
Will fans show up to watch him even if the team is losing games? Last year, according to ESPN, the US Airways Center was 95.4 percent full for games, a possible sign people are already starting to show a dissatisfaction not only with losing, but likely the direction the team is taking as well.
Would trading Nash cause even more fans to shun the arena? Most definitely. But that’s the kind of problem that would be fixed when the team found its next star and won some games.
