Nash: Phoenix no longer a home run

For years Steve Nash was pushed by reporters to admit
that he was going to leave the Valley of the Sun, and for
years he refused to acknowledge any such thing would ever
happen.

According to ESPN.com, the free agent point
guard wouldn’t
list a favorite destination but pointed out that he now
knows Phoenix may not be that place.

“But I do know that for the first time I realize that it
might not be Phoenix. I would have said even in the middle
of (last) season or last year that I would have thought I
probably would have stayed in Phoenix forever. But it’s
come to a point now where I’m facing the reality that’s
not (the case).”

Nash went on to say that he senses team officials are
ready to move in a different direction, and he doesn’t
feel staying in Phoenix is a sure bet anymore.

“I don’t necessarily feel like it’s a home run anymore,”
Nash said of re-signing with the Suns. “I don’t
necessarily feel like they’re determined to keep me. I
think there are a lot of factors. So, one, I’m not sure
they’re determined to keep me, (and) two, there’s other
opportunities that are exciting. So I think I have to be
open-minded … but at the same time be able to forecast
where I’ll be most successful and happiest.”

The Suns seem to be preparing for the departure of the
All-Star point guard, drafting Kendall Marshall and
extending a qualifying offer to Aaron Brooks,
who spent
the last
season playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. The
offer doesn’t
necessarily mean the Suns are ready to keep Brooks, but
gives them the option to match an offer made by another
team if one is made.

While Marshall appears to be the point guard of the
future for the Suns, the team seems to have many others on
their radar for next season. Goran Dragic has been rumored
to be on the top of their
list, while other options are Portland’s Raymond
Felton or Los Angeles’ Ramon Sessions.

Though it’s unclear who the Suns are targeting, or which
team is on the top of Nash’s would-be destinations, as
free agency lingers it
is becoming more and more clear now that the two
are
preparing to part ways.

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