Steve Nash deserves a better ending to his career than this and you know it, Mr. Lance Blanks. I realize you don’t know who I am but that’s ok - it’s the message that’s important anyway, right? I may not be a GM like yourself but humor me for a minute, will you?
Your Suns are currently 11-12, good for second place in the Pacific Division and clinging to playoff hopes but we all know that they’re much worse than that. Don’t even try to deny it.
I’m not going to blame you entirely for the current roster’s mediocrity - I know that by the time you were hired in August Amare Stoudemire had already departed, the useless Hedo Turkoglu had already arrived, and Josh Childress arrived with him to form one pretty pricey, depressing offseason of transactions.
As if you didn’t already know, you are spending over $63 million on this bunch for this season, including over $30 million for Jason Richardson, Turkoglu, and Childress.
That is not a recipe for a winning team, kind sir.
I could carry on for a while longer but that isn’t the point of this letter.
The point of this letter is this: Please, for the love of the game, deliver Steve Nash some bona-fide help or send him packing to a contender. I know those are big demands but hear me out on this.
Nash is playing some brilliant ball lately, if you haven’t been watching. He might even be playing as well as he ever has considering his scoring, assists, and shooting percentages are all near his career-highs and he hasn’t lost his game-changing quickness and ability to deliver passes that no other fool would ever attempt.
Furthermore, he has turned Hakeem Warrick into a serviceable big-man offensively - who else can lay claim to that?
It would be a crime to allow Nash’s final years to end in such mediocre fashion so let’s talk trades for a minute, assuming that you want to keep him in the fold.
You know you need a defensive big man yet you are refusing to part ways with Jason Richardson and his albatross of a contract. What gives?! I can only hope that you are not thinking of resigning him long-term and are silently working on beefing up your front-line by the February deadline.
As a shameless armchair-GM I would like to advise you on what you should think about doing, centering first how we’re going to help Steve in Phoenix.
The only truly desirable piece you own is the expiring contract of the still-productive Jason Richardson so I’m only going to focus on scenarios that include him.
I have another full-time job, you know.
I’m not saying that Richardson is a terrible player, mind you. He still has his moments offensively where he reminds you of his Slam Dunk Champion days but because you have a major need at center/power forward and defensively in general I’m assuming that you’re not going to want to sign Richardson long-term as he moves further away from his prime.
Besides, three-point shooting specialists exist all over the league so replacing Richardson long-term shouldn’t be an issue.
First, you should think about trading Richardson to the Mavericks for Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. Haywood is better than he has been playing lately and is clearly unhappy riding pine beneath Tyson Chandler. He’s also still very young and has a better defensive rating this season than anyone on your roster. Stevenson? He has an expiring $4 million deal that you could use as trade-bait closer to the deadline if desired. If you choose to sign him after the season he remains a quality defender. You would have a hole at shooting guard but Dudley and Childress can fill that void until the offseason.
And you know that Mark Cuban must be just itching to make a move - he’s never satisfied so pounce on this!
How about a deal with the Clippers for Chris Kaman? They could sure use more offense considering Baron Davis is downright useless and I think Kaman would be amazingly productive in your system considering he can hit the mid-range jumper and has legit back-to-the-basket moves. To make the salaries match you should ask for Rasual Butler, who you could plug into that starting guard spot for the time being and you could part with the distinguished Earl Clark.
If this scenario isn’t possible I suggest looking at Cleveland Cavalier forward Antawn Jamison. There’s another guy who is clearly a better player than he’s shown and would immediately become your best rebounder and post-defender. I know he’s on the decline and will have a monstrous $15 million salary in 2011-12 but who knows how long Nash can keep this up for? Richardson for Jamison would work on the salary front as well.
I know, I know - you don’t want to give up Richardson’s expiring contract for just Jamison, so finally I present the Zach Randolph option. No, Randolph isn’t a legend on the defensive end but he can sure fill it up and pull in the boards. Randolph has actually played decent defense this year as he’s angling for a new deal and you could sure use his presence down low. You might have to add an Earl Clark-type to the mix to match salaries but I’m sure you wouldn’t mind.
There are other potentially decent deals out there, of course, and I expect you might know what they are. Don’t get defensive on me - these are just suggestions!
What if you can’t make a deal to your liking? Then do the right thing and send Nash to a contender, please.
The Magic come to mind - you could acquire Jameer Nelson and, say, Brandon Bass by shipping Nash and Turkoglu to the East. You’ll have your point guard of the future and a big who can rebound and play defense.
Maybe the Knicks? I’m thinking that Raymond Felton has that spot locked up right now and besides, Chris Paul will be a free-agent in the future.
How about Miami? No… I don’t want to even think about that.
I don’t think Steve wants to leave anyway, so the prior trade scenarios should be your first priority.
Here‘s the bottom line: Steve Nash deserves to go out in better fashion than this. I understand if you don’t like my suggestions above but just do something, damn it! You have one of the greatest point guards of all-time on your roster and you’re sitting under .500!
You and I both know this shouldn’t be happening, Mr. Blanks.
Pick up that phone, please!
How about the rest of you out there? Any trade ideas that are somewhat realistic to help Nash in his quest to end his career on a positive note?* *