New York Knicks: When Steve Nash wanted to sign in 2012
Steve Nash entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night. While he never joined the New York Knicks, there was a time this had the chance to happen.
In the early 2010’s, the New York Knicks were after big talents to play with Carmelo Anthony, as Amar’e Stoudemire broke down from injuries and the supporting cast could not move past the second round of the playoffs.
In 2012, the Knicks attempted to bolster their roster with a point guard in free agency. They signed Jason Kidd to a three-year deal, which only lasted one season, since he retired, became a head coach and waited out the process to become part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
In Friday’s ceremony, Steve Nash, another point guard, entered basketball immortality. With the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, he achieved greatness, two MVP awards and eight All-Star appearances.
However, for one summer, the Knicks had a chance to sign Nash.
In 2012, even with interest from a native team, the Toronto Raptors, Nash wanted to join the Knicks, according to CBS Sports. The roster needed another face at point guard, and this was the splashy name to provide it, despite age and injury concerns after 16 seasons.
Problems accompanied this, headlined by a lack of cap space to sign Nash. The Knicks and Suns had to create a sign-and-trade for this to work, but they never linked for such a move.
Iman Shumpert, a young piece at the time, was the speculated piece to headline a Nash package. With the potential need for draft picks, too, nothing moved the needle.
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If head coach Mike D’Antoni had not resigned before the 2011-12 season ended, maybe Nash signs with the Knicks and tries to make the mid-2000’s Suns recur. While not that dynamic offense, it’s still the point guard that brought D’Antoni to prominence and popularized this fast-paced system.
Given nothing worked out with the Knicks, Nash signed a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. It was a sign-and-trade that sent a 2013 first round pick, a 2013 second round pick, a 2014 second round pick and a 2018 first round pick to the Suns. He joined Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol to form a team with exorbitant expectations.
While Nash in New York had the potential to become interesting, he faced injuries from start to finish in the Purple and Gold, with a back problem that lingered and eventually led to this retirement after the 2014-15 season.
In just 65 games, Nash averaged 11.4 points and 6.4 assists for the Lakers. He contributed to just over half of the 2012-13 playoff season and faded in 2013-14, before not suiting up in 2014-15.
So, as Nash enters the Basketball Hall of Fame, there might be a minor “what-if” scenario, even though he declined and retired with the Lakers. If anything, the Toronto Raptors, who capped themselves out with the offer sheet for Landry Fields, face the biggest “what if” of this.
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Would Nash have found success with the Knicks? Does he become the key to a postseason run in 2013, if healthy?