FanPost

Steve Nash: YES.

The only logical reasons to reject a perfectly bounced Steve Nash trade is his reportedly declining health due to age and back fatigue, as well his inability to play good D. Let's take a look at Hollinger's stats for Steve last season:

RK PLAYER GP MPG TS% AST TO USG ORR DRR REBR PER VA EWA
22 Steve Nash, PHX 75 33.3 .601 41.9 13.0 23.0 1.8 10.2 6.0 20.81 365.5 12.2

 

For an 'old dude' that is supposedly breaking down, Nash sure overachieved by Blazer standards. 75 games? 33.3 minutes? Those aren't the numbers of a guy on his last legs. I think a lot of people see Nash stretching and laying on his back on the baseline and are immediately reminded of their great-uncle with the trick knee and lumbar issues, when they SHOULD be reminded of Sting or Madonna--or some other celebrity who still "has game" and is aging gracefully in accordance to their particular line of being a bad-ass. Note: I'm not saying Madonna can sing. Nash isn't your lovable old feline laying on the floor with the puddle of drool and the bent ribs--he's a hip cat with an enlarged health streak. Two more years of his current production seems logical.

Anyways, 14.7 points and 11.4 dimes a game are Nash-like numbers, although he could easily score more considering how pure his stroke from distance is. His D is, obviously, the big red flag: A little guard who only averages .6 steals a game isn't pressuring anyone. He's a competitor though. We've seen him guard Nicolas. We recently saw Dallas turn Miami into a fourth quarter jump shooting team with excellent post D and a team concept on the perimeter. They hid Terry and Berea, who himself was able to overcome his size issues with scrappyness, a trait Steve Nash has in spades. All-in-all, Nash is a minus on D, but that's why you have Nate as a coach and Wesley and Wallace on the perimeter--they can do the heavy lifting on D while Nash runs the team.

Most importantly though, Nash fits this roster on offense much better than Dre does. He can run pick-and-rolls, as well as iso-oriented sets, either with or without the ball. From the perimeter he can straight light it up, as well as create his own mid-range jump shot if plays break down. He is one of the best guards in the open floor. Oh, he's also one of the best free throw shooters in history. He's old for a point guard, but Nash, given his experience--and experience wins--is still better than Steph Curry during this next 2 year window. If the Blazers are truly going for a title, he is not only a great fit--he is possibly THE best fit for turning a predictable, oft offensively inept Blazer team into a legitimate contender for the cup--err--trophy. Sorry, got a little Canadian there for a sec...

The two primary factors in making this deal productive are what you have to give to obtain him, and whether or not the Blazers can still acquire a backup PG: Patty is Patty, and Armon will be too busy asking for Steve's autograph to play basketball.