Nash: 'This is my team'
With a deal-freezing lockout on the horizon, any rumors involving permanent changes of address for either player can be regarded as little more than practice by a basketball-reporting corps attempting to remain in midseason-gossip shape. Sure, it's clear the Suns need to add (at least) a couple of shiny bricks. Just don't expect the departure of Nash and/or Hill to be included in the official blueprint.
"There's no change in our position about Steve Nash," Suns president Lon Babby said during a Thursday press conference designed, in part, to help reporters envision the team-building plan. "He is the sun, the moon and the stars of this franchise. We want him back; we understand his value here."
Babby seemed eager to trot out this same cosmos-defined roll call when national media snoops suggested the Suns were attempting to initiate the rebuilding process by dealing the point guard long before we could sniff the trade deadline. A former player agent, the Suns' president feels equally galactic about Hill, a one-time Babby client who has played out the final year on his Phoenix contract.
"I've known him since 1994," Babby said of Hill, whose efforts this season were acknowledged with his second Dan Majerle Hustle Award. "As well as I've known him, I underestimated who he is and what he does for a team. I can't contemplate the notion of moving forward without him here."
That readily admitted personal bias is why Suns general manager Lance Blanks will handle negotiations to keep Hill in Phoenix.
OK, Babby -- who takes his marching orders from team owner Robert Sarver -- seems pretty committed to maintaining the Nash-Hill partnership. Although nothing is absolute, many Suns followers probably don't mind rolling with that.
"This is my team," Nash, 37, said when asked about his potential interest in leaving town. "I feel like this is my home, as a basketball player, and I want to try and get back to the playoffs with this team ... try and build this team into a contender again. It's pretty simple."
