The Lakers appeared to be a longshot at best to acquire Steve Nash, but unexpectedly pulled off the deal that will send multiple draft picks back to Phoenix in exchange for the two-time MVP’s services.
The sign-and-trade deal will net Nash a contract of three years and more than $25 million to play for the Lakers, while the Suns will receive two first-round and two second-round draft picks that they’ll use to rebuild, all without having to take on any additional salary or unwanted bad contracts in return.
Essentially, this was the very best the Suns could do under the circumstances — which, to be fair, were created by the team when it allowed Nash to play out the final year of his contract in Phoenix without attempting to trade him sooner for some assets that would help the team in the more immediate future.
As soon as the Nash deal went final, the Suns wasted no time in locking up some free agent talent to begin that rebuilding process. Goran Dragic was signed to replace Nash at the point guard spot, and Michael Beasley was brought in to provide scoring from the wing position. There’s still the matter of Eric Gordon, whom the Suns signed to a large offer sheet but that New Orleans is almost certain to match.
The Phoenix front office did what was best for the team in its long-term plans to reconstruct a contender while moving forward with life after Nash. But despite the fact that stockpiling draft picks is the way to enter a rebuilding scenario in the NBA, and that going about it that way doesn’t unnecessarily saddle the team with bad contracts, Suns fans are going to be absolutely livid with the fact that the team helped facilitate the face of the franchise ending up on one of the two teams they absolutely cannot stand.
The Spurs are probably at the top of the list for Suns fans’ hatred, considering they were the ones that kept Phoenix from getting out of the West and into the Finals on more than one occasion. But the Lakers are a close second, and while the rivalry has been more than a bit one-sided, it exists in the minds and hearts of fans of the Suns. Phoenix residents have an angry little brother complex when it comes to their counterparts in Los Angeles, and Suns fans hate the Lakers with the same passion and fervor that you’d expect from that type of dysfunctional, familial relationship.
Simply put, seeing Nash in a Lakers jersey happily playing alongside Kobe Bryant will make Suns fans physically ill. They will have a visceral reaction to the unholy teaming, and will struggle mightily with the fact that this move couldn’t have been completed without the complicity of the Suns organization.
For the Lakers, the outlook is a bright one. The respective ages of Bryant and Nash shouldn’t be a concern, especially when you consider that both played the majority of their team’s games in a compressed, lockout-shortened season a year ago. With the coaching staff having almost four full months to gameplan and scheme for their revamped roster, and with a long, 82-game schedule being more than enough time for the players to learn to play together and work out any kinks, L.A. should be primed and ready for a run deep into the postseason come April.
On the Suns side, things are obviously much murkier at this point. The team brought some immediate free agent talent into the fold, but if nothing else is done beyond Dragic and Beasley, Phoenix will be still be a team near the bottom of the draft lottery stuck trying to develop rookie Kendall Marshall, while waiting for future drafts to come along so they can build a competitive roster over time with young, rookie talent.
The rebuilding in Phoenix was inevitable, and was something the front office had resisted to this point while Nash was still on the roster. The Suns made the right decision in terms of what they were able to get in return for him once it became clear he was no longer in the team’s long-term plans.
But that doesn’t change the fact that seeing Nash play for the Lakers will be extremely difficult for long-time fans of the franchise to stomach.
