ESPN is reporting - and agent Bill Duffy has confirmed – that Steve Nash has agreed to a 2-year extension with the Suns – worth $22 million – that will keep him with the team through 2011-12. Nash, who will be 38 when the deal expires, had his worst statitsical season as a Sun last year – averaging 15.7 ppg and 9.7 assists. While the extension will 
certainly have its detractors – I could not be more for this deal. I know the negatives – he’s old, we need to rebuild, he plays no defense, and so forth – but here is why I’m on the “Keep Nash” bandwagon:
(1) He’s still pretty damn good - as I mentioned above – Nash did in fact have his worst statistical year as a Sun in ’08-09 – but look deeper into the stats.
- In 46 games under Terry Porter – Nash averaged 13.5 ppg, 10.0 assists, and shot just 46.7% from the field. The 13.5 ppg would have been his worst since the ’99-00 season, and the shooting percentage would have been the worst since ’02-03.
- In 24 games under Alvin Gentry (excluding the final 4 in which playoff contention was no longer a consideration) – Nash increased his points to 20.8 a game, still dished out 9.2 assist per game, and increased his shooting percentage a staggering 8.1% to 54.8%.
If those final 24 game numbers are any indication – and I think they are – Nash still has ‘it’. I’m not suggesting that he has the same ability he did when he was a back to back MVP – but he is still one of the better shooters in the league, and I’d imagine that his assist totals will return to normal levels when he is pushing the ball up the court and running pick and rolls with Amar’e again.
(2) He actually aides the rebuilding process - for all this talk about “blowing up the team” and “starting over”, you don’t really hear any actual plans. The fact of the matter is, the Suns are actually younger than you think. As AZ Central said the other day – outside of Grant Hill and Nash, there is not a player on the Suns roster older than 28 – take away Jason Richardson and the age drops to 26. So like it or not folks – rebuilding (hopefully reloading) has already begun. Also – I’m no genius but I think there would be a certain draw to playing with a veteran leader who doubles as one of the more unselfish players in the league. If the Suns are going to play any part whatsoever in the 2010 free-agent bonanza – Nash will be an asset not a hinderance, particularly since he is deferring $3 million dollars worth of salary for each year of the extension.
(3) Not Getting Equal Value - for all his ability in an up-tempo offense, Nash has clear limitations when you are slowing down the pace. Watching the two-time MVP try to play within Terry Porter’s awful system was like watching a dolphin try to snow ski (please picture this). Thus what would the realistic trade market for Nash have been? The Mike D’Antoni-Nash reunion was plausible – but what were the Suns really going to get back in return? The Knicks have very little in the way of actual players of value – and is getting a 1st round pick from a team that is going to empty their pockets in the summer of 2010 really worth it?
(4) Alvin Gentry – after an 18-13 finish to the ’08-09 season, mostly without All-Star forward Amar’e Stoudemire, the Suns removed the interim tag from coach Alvin Gentry’s title. Gentry was given a two year contract, with a team option for a third year. The Suns didn’t turn the keys to the car over to Gentry in order to run an offense in which the ball is walked up the floor – so who better to run the show than the guy who revolutionaized the offense in its current form? Hiring Gentry would have been absolutely pointless if you were going to change the offense.
(5) Ticket Sales – call this the ‘Face of the Franchise’ factor. Now this – while not particualrly sexy – is the truth. The economy is in the toilet, the Suns are offering deep discounts on season tickets and for the most part (save yours truly), nobody is biting. Getting rid of Nash – who was drafted by the Suns and has enjoyed his best years here – will certainly not help ticket sales. You need a guy who’s face you can put on buses and billboards – and Nash is that guy. Adam Green of KTAR.com recently made the argument that this is tantamount to the D-Backs signing Eric Byrnes due to the fact that nobody wanted another Luis Gonzalez-like situation, but I can really only laugh at that. In the seasons leading up to Byrnes’ inexcusable extension he was a middling outfielder who was actually released by multiple teams. The only reason he even scored an extension in the first place was because he enjoyed a career first-half in 2007. So comparing a 2-time league MVP who still has a great deal of his ability to ERIC BYRNES is shameful.
There’s my piece. I think re-signing Nash was the right move for now and the future. Feel free to comment and disagree – but know in advance that you’re wrong.
As a Spurs fan I am also glad the Suns resigned Nash. Simply put, the Spurs own Nash. So naturally I am pleased that Pop called Kerr and ordered him to resign Nash.
Agreed.
Suns in 2010!!!
Just played KState’s Colbert Hills two weekends ago.
Gorgeous course.
It’s kind of comforting to have him back, but I do worry about paying a guys in his mid-to-late 30s that much money. This means there will be no blowing it up, and this also means an Amare extension must be next (even if next means before next offseason).
I enjoy http://valleyofthesuns.com/ – highly entertaining blog…so I hope you don’t mind that I dropped our story on your site.
Agreed that the Amare extension should be next – I think a key to reloading instead of rebuilding is that one of the young guys actually develops into a solid 3rd option (Clark would hopefully be the guy). In addition you’d hope they could do something with J-Rich – perhaps using his salary (and maybe the savings from the Nash deferrment) to get a better piece.