After a trip to the conference finals last season, the prospects in Phoenix Suns land have changed from scorching-hot to bitter-cold in seemingly no time.
Currently sporting a 14-18 record, the Suns are losers of nine of their past 12 games, with the latest defeat coming at the hands of the Sacramento Kings -- the team with the worst record in the NBA. To make matters worse, Phoenix is slated to play a winning team in five of its next seven games, beginning with the Lakers at home Wednesday night.
In a desperate move to shake things up and fortify the defense, the Suns executed a blockbuster December trade with the similarly underachieving Orlando Magic, netting Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat and Vince Carter in exchange for Hedo Turkoglu, Earl Clark and Jason Richardson. The deal was supposed to revive the Suns' playoff hopes. But Phoenix has gone 1-4 with its new pieces.
Then there's Steve Nash, who's standing on the bow of a sinking ship. The former MVP continues to play brilliantly at the point guard position, averaging 17.2 points and 10.6 assists while ranking sixth leaguewide in player efficiency rating (24.1). This despite being a month from celebrating his 37th birthday and playing innocent bystander through the organization's painful overhaul.
So what to do with Nash? Here are the variety of options the Suns face.