Nash a Laker

per Marcus on Twitter

Lakers land Nash
The Suns will trade Steve Nash to the Lakers for draft picks, a source confirms to Y! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

more to come

MARC J. SPEARS

EXPERT
Lakers land Steve Nash for draft picks
6 minutes ago

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Steve Nash is headed to the Los Angeles Lakers after the Phoenix Suns agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that will bring them four first-round draft picks.
The Lakers will give Nash a three-year, $27 million contract.
"He's ecstatic," said Billy Duffy, Nash's agent. "He gets to be close to his children."
The Suns will get the Lakers' 2013 and '15 first-round draft picks and their 2014 and '15 second-round selections. The Lakers also paid the Suns $3 million to facilitate the trade.
The New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors and Dallas Mavericks had all tried to sign Nash.

Hi,
My take on it is a little too late.

AK

You gotta like the move because of Nash's talent and smarts but this could really signal a shift in Lakerland. Will Mike Brown alter the 10 year Laker philosophy of Kobe-ball and let Nash run the team and both get and keep Bynum and Gasol involved game in and game out, OR will Kobe have a problem supressing his ego, game and chase for immortality (6 rings to tie MJ) and allow Nash to be the floor general. I THINK Kobe will because he is smart enough to know that Nash, Gasol and Bynum could possibly get him ring #6 but playing Kobe-ball will not! It will be interesting to see how it plays out, and as an avowed Laker hater it could also be very scary.

Sinus

Agree, (by about 4 years) if they indeed signed Grant Hill too ( he will be 40 in October) and Nash will be 39 by next Playoff time. Breakdowns are bound to happen, Lakers gave up 4 picks in the next 3 years. So much for worrying about scouting the college crops.

Things are poppin for sure

beat

Am I missing something. The article says the Suns get 4 first round picks, then a paragraph later says the Suns get 2 first round picks and 2 second round picks.

Big difference....

He makes the Lakers better right away.

If you're going to add an older player to your roster, he's #1 with a bullet.

Nash looks like he might have a couple of years left in him at a fairly high competitive level.

I also go along with Will Jr.'s take on this.

Reports: Nash headed to Lakers in sign-and-trade deal
By HOOPSWORLD
Basketball News & NBA Rumors
EmailPrint1 Comment
Free-agent point guard Steve Nash appears headed to the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal, according to multiple media reports Saturday.

NBA.com first reported that possible scenario earlier in the week, but KTAR Radio in Phoenix reported Saturday that the deal has been agreed upon and is being finalized.

In several tweets, John Gambadoro of KTAR wrote:

1) Nash to LA for multiple picks all but done!!!

2) Suns will get multiple picks from the Lakers, had been talk earlier of two first rounders so my belief is that it is at least the two 1sts.

In a subsequent tweet, Gambardoro said reports that Nash had sought a deal with the New York Knicks, as had been reported by several media outlets, was not true — and that the Lakers had been his top choice all along.

Other outlets including ESPN.com and HoopsWorld.com have also reported the pending deal.

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic tweeted that the blockbuster trade would send Nash to the Lakers in exchange for 2013 and 2015 first-round picks and second-round picks in 2013 and 2014.

Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears reported that Nash has agreed to a three-year, $27 million contract, and that in addition to the four draft picks, the Suns will also get $3 million in cash from the Lakers.

The Nash trade is a great trade for LA.
He will immediately make a difference in LA's offense, especially for Gasol and Bynum. This should help Kobe to know that he doesn't have to force the issue to make the offense happen.
Giving up draft picks in the mid 20's and mid 50's means very little to LA.
Yes, a team can get lucky with a good player in the 20's but for the most part, those picks don't turn out to be difference makers.

I didn't think Steve wanted to play for LA but apparently he pushed hard for this trade.

I wonder if LA will be able to pick up another asset by doing a S & T with Sessions?

LA should be better then last year and so should Boston if they are able to sign Terry and Green.

TJ - Congrats. This s a huge plus for the Lakers and gives them a solid shot at #17, sorry to say.

TJ, the Sessions sign and trade chip could really be huge for the Lakers. With Nash,and Blake in a role that is more suited to his talent level, Sessions is no longer needed. A sign and trade involving him and Barnes/MWP could really bring the Lakers some quality depth and maybe a defensive specialist/glue type player who could help facilitate chemistry both on and off the court. A kind of James Posey circa 2007-8 role.

willjr wrote:TJ, the Sessions sign and trade chip could really be huge for the Lakers. With Nash,and Blake in a role that is more suited to his talent level, Sessions is no longer needed. A sign and trade involving him and Barnes/MWP could really bring the Lakers some quality depth and maybe a defensive specialist/glue type player who could help facilitate chemistry both on and off the court. A kind of James Posey circa 2007-8 role.

will,

There won't be many teams that will need a starting point guard once Lin and Dragic sign.
Dallas and Toronto don't need to do a S & T since they are well under the cap.
Orlando and maybe NY would complete a S & T for Sessions.
The only possibility I could see in a S & T is for JJ Redick.
In reality, I think LA would let Sessions walk then to take on $12m for Redick. ($6m salary plus luxury tax).
I think Barnes will be picked up by some team for the league minimum and I can't see any team taking on the $15m that is due to MWP over the next two years.
Teams know that MWP could be amnestied and he could be signed for the league minimum or a little higher.

I think LA will resign Jordan Hill and sign another shooter.
Maybe Brandon Rush, maybe Antawn Jamison.

I would not be surprised at all if Darius Morris has a great summer league and wins the back up pg spot for now.
LA might look to waive Steve Blake using the stretch provision which will spread his contract out over 5 years instead of 2.

If finalized, the additions of Nash and Hill should accomplish more than just contender status for the Lakers.

• It should put less pressure on guys like Bynum and Gasol to create (and sometimes force) their own shots.

• It should make it easier for the Lakers to move away from the triangle and toward being a more traditional PG-driven team.

• It should make it easier for the Lakers to attract other veteran free agents who want a last chance with a contender.

But, of course, the trades' most noteworthy accomplishment should propel the Lakers into the championship mix. Personally, it will be good to have them return as worthy competitors for what I hope will be a championship caliber Celtics team.

Sam

Potentially a great addition for la, provided kobe lets nash run the offense.

Dboss

dboss wrote:Potentially a great addition for la, provided kobe lets nash run the offense.

Dboss

Potentially is right.

Think they will coexsist somehow but there is only one ball.
Checking Nash a bit he's never been hurt seriously that I can find and since 2000-2001 season has played almost every game missing just a few in most seasons, so he has been pretty durable. He will be 39 in February, that would be my concern, the 3rd year of the contract might be a bit much but so might KG's. Obviously the Lakers are pushing for a title run now sort of like us. Just wonder if they can put together a bench, of course I wonder the same about us. Once 7/11 gets here some of this will be sorted out, finally!

beat

Congrats to TJ.

Nash is a conventional point guard, which fits Brown's offense perfectly. There will be tons of pick-and-rolls between Nash and Bynum and Gasol.

A 3-year deal, worth $25M, to a 38 year old point guard? Wow.

He has to stay healthy, of course. He's not injury-prone but he is 38.

For people who mocked Danny for signing KG and for continuing to pursue Ray Allen (nobody on this board did that, but they are out there), this is a statement that age and value aren't necessarily inextricably linked.

Good news for aging farts like me.

bob


.

One more comment.

To me, this is a de facto statement by Jim Buss that "Apres Kobe, le deluge". He sees Kobe only having a few years left, so he's going for it. Rebuilding be damned, the future is now. He'll start rebuilding the second he needs to and not one second before that.

It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

bob

.

Despite the accolades and respect given to Doc, I believe his role in blending age and youth as well as stars and role players as well as installing systems to maximize their productivity for five seasons have been seriously understated. It seems to me that Mike Brown's abilities in personnel management will be put to the test even more than the willingness of Kobe to share the ball, etc.

Sam

sam wrote:Despite the accolades and respect given to Doc, I believe his role in blending age and youth as well as stars and role players as well as installing systems to maximize their productivity for five seasons have been seriously understated. It seems to me that Mike Brown's abilities in personnel management will be put to the test even more than the willingness of Kobe to share the ball, etc.

Sam

Sam,
If your suggestion is true I doubt very much that MB can handle all that stuff. He is not PJ.

AK

Wining cures all ills.

Despite his age Nash could be a transformative influence..at least for a few years.

Dboss

Sinus,

Well, if Mike's not Phil Jackson, at least Mike's got that going for him. (Not a Phan of Phil.)

Sam

Interesting insights by several posters.

My initial take is that it's a great signing. I agree wholeheartedly with Bob's comment that Kobe has a limited run remaining and that the Lakers are doing all they can to push for another title while Kobe lasts. It seems like the only logical move, and not unexpected since they tried to do an even bigger move in that direction with the Chris Paul trade.

I also like Willjr's points about this being part of a shift away from a Kobe-dominated offense and that much of the team's success will depend on how Kobe adapts. He certainly can be effective partnered with Nash, but will he be? I have so much admiration for Nash's game, even at this age, that I cannot conceive of him being the source of any problem with offensive chemistry. It's up to Kobe. My bet is that he'll have bouts of Old Kobe-itis but that he's smart enough to realize that he's getting older, that his body can't do what it used to, and that Nash could be a tremendous gift to the end of his career.

I also agree with Sam that this puts a lot on Mike Brown's capabilities as a coach, both to make this group of veterans work and to integrate younger players into the mix. I haven't been sold on him so far. I think that there are few really good head coaches and a much larger group of guys who are really good assistant coaches. My impression is that Mike Brown belongs in the second group, but this is his chance to see if he belongs in the first.

Ramon Sessions was an idiot for not exercising his player option for $4.5 million for next season. The Lakers may have still gotten Nash, but they would've had to trade Sessions, and he would've guaranteed himself a nice salary. As TJ points out, not many teams need a starting point guard, and Dragic and Lin are well ahead of Sessions in the free agent pecking order. As Willjr points out, LA now has the option to do a sign and trade, but that's their option, and they can just let Sessions walk if nothing works out. Sessions may ultimately find that his services won't get $4.5 million in the open market.

The Lakers may not be done yet. They could still deal for Howard, keep Bynum and deal Gasol, or keep both of them. Metta You Wanna Piece Of Me may be gone, one way or another. But even if they keep all those guys, they've upgraded significantly.

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