Is it finally time for the Sun to set on Steve Nash’s career in Phoenix? With free agency looming this summer and the Suns going nowhere fast, it seems more and more likely that they’ll have to consider trading Nash before the deadline.
SI.com is reporting that one team executive says the Suns are “as close as they’ve ever been” to letting their star point guard go. Nash seems like he’s trying not to think about it and just play.
“I have no idea what the club will eventually do if a bunch of offers are thrown in their face,” Nash said, “but I feel like I’m not nervous about [the trade deadline] and I’m not thinking about — what’s the word? — I’m not anticipating anything to happen. I feel like I made a commitment and I feel like I owe it to my teammates — the city, the fans, the club — to play it out and to play as hard as I can.”
Nash continues to play hard, but the Suns don’t have the pieces around him anymore to contend for a championship. Don’t get me wrong, the guy can still play, but his best years are definitely behind him and the Suns may need to start thinking down the line.
The Suns gave it a good run with Nash, they might have even had a shot at a championship if Robert Horry hadn’t checked Nash into the scorer’s table (the bitter words of a former Suns fan). Now it’s time to look ahead. Nash deserves a real shot at a ring. The Suns need to see if they can trade him to a contender and start the rebuilding process.
If Nash finishes out his career in Phoenix, it will be a great story and it will mean a lot to the city, but they’ll be stuck as a lottery team until he retires. They’d be clinging to the past instead of looking to the future. Steve Nash is the kind of player that makes everyone around him better, but no one player is good enough to turn the current Suns team into a group of contenders. It’s time to move on.
