The Suns were eliminated form the playoffs yesterday. It's actually pretty impressive that they were even in contention given how the season started, but the schedule makers did them no favors in the last week. Going in to Utah and grabbing the playoff spot from the Jazz was not going to happen, but the real problem might have been the bad losses against horrible teams through the season, especially before the all-star break. This made the Suns season and home finale against the Spurs irrelevant, but I watched it completely for one reason. This game could have potentially been Steve Nash's last one in a Suns uniform. All good things comes to an end at some point, but I am not ready to close the book on Nash's Suns career. He had an amazing season and but for Rajon Rondo going nuts in the last month, he would have won the assists title at age 38. To quote Delonte West, "how playa is that!" Steve Nash has done a lot for the Suns, but having this roster at .500 this season and almost in the playoffs should be his signature accomplishment.
Suns owner Robert Sarver didn't give Nash much support either this year or last and I consider that to be a criminal waste. Now, he is hoping to retain him next season. How exactly is Nash supposed to convince himself to stay in Phoenix? As a Suns fan, I hope he does stay, but should he? The roster is barren and Sarver has not shown any inclination to spend and chase free agents. The Suns salary does drop from 64 to 31 million this off-season, but that also excludes Nash and Hill. Worse still, it includes 17 million for Josh Childress, Hakim Warrick and Channing Frye. 6 mill for Frye is not horrible, but the rest is dead money. The upcoming free agency class is not stellar either so I am not sure what "darth sarver" is going to do. The good news is, it doesn't take a lot to build a playoff team if Nash is in the mix. All they need to do is re-sign Nash plus sign a couple of young studs - preferably a power forward and an athletic wing. They will be back in business. Marcin Gortat is an asset and having him in the middle makes things a lot easier when it comes to rebuilding this puppy.
But the Suns still won't be a championship contender next season in all probability and how do you make Nash stay for this project? Especially if other real contenders like Miami come after him. Nash is so good, he will instantly add to any team - even a bonafide contender like Miami. We won't know for a couple of months, but I wish Nash the best of luck as he navigates this final free agency of his illustrious and amazing career. He not only played great and put up some amazing numbers, but also constantly entertained and captivated us. It was great to hear the Suns faithful chant "we want Steve" when he was sitting on the bench in the 4-Th against the Spurs. Suns fans have been a little spoiled with Nash and have not ben showing up in force to see him this season. The Suns have been drawing much better on the road than at home. Coach Gentry put him back for a minute just for a curtain call. Hope it's not Nash's last one in a Suns uniform. He says he wants to ball for 3 more years, I will give him 2, but I will take all 3 years if it's in a Suns uniform.
The other intriguing part of this game was that the Spurs were in town and they rested their big 3 for the game. No big surprise there, but the interesting story was that they were in Phoenix and they left earlier in the morning back home with coach Pop. Spurs already have the best record in the West and they decided to completely skip today's game and tomorrow's @ Golden State for some solid rest back home. And Pop joined them too for "personal reasons". I don't know what Pop is dealing with, but it appears to me like they would have played the big 3 if the Suns were still in the playoff hunt. The usual controversy about resting stars at the end of the season is how it affects the other teams fighting for a playoff spot. For instance, if the Suns were still in the running and the Spurs rested their studs, Utah Jazz would be really unhappy about it. So may be Pop was willing to play them to avoid that whole controversy. Or may be he genuinely wanted to eliminate the Suns given all the old rivalry. Unlikely, given that I would rather play this Suns team than handle the crowd in Salt Lake city. But since the Suns were already eliminated, it all became a moot point. So Pop could rest them all with a clear conscience, and he decided to do it. Thats my read of the situation. I could be totally wrong, but I thought it was interesting how they all flew back home earlier in the day.
Suns owner Robert Sarver didn't give Nash much support either this year or last and I consider that to be a criminal waste. Now, he is hoping to retain him next season. How exactly is Nash supposed to convince himself to stay in Phoenix? As a Suns fan, I hope he does stay, but should he? The roster is barren and Sarver has not shown any inclination to spend and chase free agents. The Suns salary does drop from 64 to 31 million this off-season, but that also excludes Nash and Hill. Worse still, it includes 17 million for Josh Childress, Hakim Warrick and Channing Frye. 6 mill for Frye is not horrible, but the rest is dead money. The upcoming free agency class is not stellar either so I am not sure what "darth sarver" is going to do. The good news is, it doesn't take a lot to build a playoff team if Nash is in the mix. All they need to do is re-sign Nash plus sign a couple of young studs - preferably a power forward and an athletic wing. They will be back in business. Marcin Gortat is an asset and having him in the middle makes things a lot easier when it comes to rebuilding this puppy.
But the Suns still won't be a championship contender next season in all probability and how do you make Nash stay for this project? Especially if other real contenders like Miami come after him. Nash is so good, he will instantly add to any team - even a bonafide contender like Miami. We won't know for a couple of months, but I wish Nash the best of luck as he navigates this final free agency of his illustrious and amazing career. He not only played great and put up some amazing numbers, but also constantly entertained and captivated us. It was great to hear the Suns faithful chant "we want Steve" when he was sitting on the bench in the 4-Th against the Spurs. Suns fans have been a little spoiled with Nash and have not ben showing up in force to see him this season. The Suns have been drawing much better on the road than at home. Coach Gentry put him back for a minute just for a curtain call. Hope it's not Nash's last one in a Suns uniform. He says he wants to ball for 3 more years, I will give him 2, but I will take all 3 years if it's in a Suns uniform.
The other intriguing part of this game was that the Spurs were in town and they rested their big 3 for the game. No big surprise there, but the interesting story was that they were in Phoenix and they left earlier in the morning back home with coach Pop. Spurs already have the best record in the West and they decided to completely skip today's game and tomorrow's @ Golden State for some solid rest back home. And Pop joined them too for "personal reasons". I don't know what Pop is dealing with, but it appears to me like they would have played the big 3 if the Suns were still in the playoff hunt. The usual controversy about resting stars at the end of the season is how it affects the other teams fighting for a playoff spot. For instance, if the Suns were still in the running and the Spurs rested their studs, Utah Jazz would be really unhappy about it. So may be Pop was willing to play them to avoid that whole controversy. Or may be he genuinely wanted to eliminate the Suns given all the old rivalry. Unlikely, given that I would rather play this Suns team than handle the crowd in Salt Lake city. But since the Suns were already eliminated, it all became a moot point. So Pop could rest them all with a clear conscience, and he decided to do it. Thats my read of the situation. I could be totally wrong, but I thought it was interesting how they all flew back home earlier in the day.
