ESPN NBA analyst: Not a playoff team, Suns should trade Nash
Dec 29, 2011, 11:26 PM | Updated: Dec 30, 2011, 12:23 am
The Phoenix Suns have started the season with two losses,
and if it’s possible, looking even worse than their 0-2
record would indicate.
The offense has been abysmal and the defense not nearly
good
enough to compensate, and early indications are the Suns
could be in for a long season.
Though, if ESPN’s Jon Barry is right, it won’t be an extra
long one.
“I just don’t see that it’s a playoff team, I really
don’t,” he told Arizona Sports 620’s Doug and Wolf. “Not
many moves in the offseason and it’s a team I don’t
believe will be in the playoffs.”
The Suns missed the playoffs in two of the last three
seasons, with a trip to the Western Conference Finals
sandwiched in the middle.
At least the Suns were competitive in those seasons,
winning 46 games in 2008-09 and 40 last season. However,
if they’re really bad this season, at some point it
may behoove the team to really blow up the roster and
begin the rebuilding process in earnest.
Of course, that would mean parting with Steve Nash.
“I know how difficult that is, he’s the face of the
franchise, there’s no question it would be a difficult
thing to do,” Barry said. “But really, you have no
championship aspirations with this team and you certainly
wouldn’t even next year.”
Barry said a team has to turn the corner at some point, so
the difficult move would be the right one.
“The longer you hold on, the less you’re going to be able
to get for him,” he said.
That’s not to say the Suns would get a great player in
return for Nash, though Barry brought up the possibility
of sending him to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook.
But really, it’s not about getting better — this year.
Moving Nash, as Barry says, would be about positioning the
franchise for more success down the road.
“At some point you’ve got to go back down to go up and I
just think it’s that time for this franchise,” he said.
