Amare responds to trade rumors

And as you said before, you have to take that into account, and judge the player as a total package. But you have to take a nuanced view of that player.

Statistically, Nash’s greatness comes from the fact that he has run the leagues most efficient offense, nine years in a row. Which is Stockton/Rodman/Wilt like statistical dominance.

Yeah, I get the point regarding that particular statistical measure, not being a measure of individual performance, but it can’t be ignored and in fact speaks volumes as to the essence of Nash’s game, his unselfishness, and why of all the players to pass through the NBA, he belongs in a unique category. In my opinion, at his peak, Nash played that team-oriented game better than anybody not named Bill Russell.

Do I think he’s worth $14M a year?. Probably not, but maybe, simply because he’s one of those players people pay to watch, because he’s popular (#13 in jersey sales), perhaps because the franchise might want to repay him for being so underpriced the last 5 years, and because he’s still the most important player on this team.

But I certainly think he’s worth $10M/per, over the next two years, even if he is getting old.

As to your point about a flawed game, every player has flaws in his game. Duncan is a bad free throw shooter, Kobe is selfish, has poor shot selection and doesn’t play team defense, Chris Paul’s decision making outside of his go-to moves (i.e his lob passes to Chandler & West) is poor and his team defense is also poor.. I could go on.. You get what you get, and hopefully you can compensate for the flaws.

And your point about balance is also well taken. It’s why I liked and still like the Shaq trade, because for the first time in years we had a front line that could compete. It’s only because Terry Porter screwed up so badly, that this team failed to make the playoffs, and more importantly failed to put together significant runs during the season.

As for championships, you don’t just need balance, you need luck and stability. We should have won two titles: 05-06 and 06-07. The first title we didn’t win because of injuries (Even without Amare, a healthy Suns that year, would have kicked Dallas ass), and playing too many games in the 1st two rounds. The second, well.. I don’t need to go on about that.

I can’t remember a single player as snakebitten as Nash when it comes to having his championship hopes snuffed by outrageous bad luck, or in having to deal with roster turnover. I know, you’re going to say something like great players overcome these setbacks, to win, but some setbacks are just too big.

My only point was to illustrate that Nash’s defense, as measured by defensive +/-, historically hasn’t been that bad, despite his inability to defend quicker guards on a man basis, and in fact has been a positive.

If Nash was as bad as some people on this board would have you believe, then any replacement would be an upgrade. That was clearly not the case.