Steve Nash Rumors: New York Knicks Should Go Hard After Nash

Steve Nash is a free agent this summer and has already admitted an openness to leaving the Phoenix Suns. The New York Knicks could desperately use a point guard, especially one known to please his teammates with pinpoint distribution. It would seem like a reasonable match.

As Kurt Helin writes on Pro Basketball Talk (and Amare Stoudemire supports), expect the Knicks to go after Nash hard this summer.

New York will go hard at Steve Nash. They can't offer him a big contract (they are already over the salary cap) but they can say if he wants to contend he makes these Knicks a contender. Nash already lives in New York in the offseason.

The only question is one of fit - if you have the ball in Nash's hands to set up the offense it is not in Anthony's hands. And Anthony is only happy when the offense runs through him. Asking him to work off the ball while Stoudemire runs the pick-and-roll with Nash is how D'Antoni lost ‘Melo (just with a different point guard). You can still give Anthony the rock when Nash sits or call his number some trips down, but either way the fit can be strained.

However, this is Nash coming in, not Jeremy Lin or Mike Bibby. This is a two-time MVP. Woodson can push ‘Melo to share, and Nash's three point shooting would provide spacing when Anthony does drive from isolation.

Nash can work in New York. It will take some sacrifices by everyone, but it can. If Nash decides to play elsewhere, look for the Knicks to go after Jason Kidd or try to trade for another veteran point guard. But Nash is the big fish, the one guy still playing at an elite level who might come for less money and be able to push this team forward.

With all due respect to Helin, this is Steve Nash. Players, even those like Carmelo Anthony who like the ball in their hands, don't get disgruntled playing with Nash, because he finds them wide open several times per game and makes their jobs significantly easier.

The harder sell will be convincing Nash that the Knicks are a contender. He's been happy for years in Phoenix, but now he seems like he finally wants to join a franchise on the cusp of a title. Are the Knicks that team? They've had one playoff win in the last decade. They don't necessarily have a head coach yet. They have one star (Stoudemire) who the team often plays better without, and another (Anthony) who has come under all types of scrutiny for hindering his teammates' production.

Is that where Nash wants to go as he chases a title in the twilight of his career? General manager Glen Grunwald probably has a lot of convincing to do.