Why Trading Steve Nash Would Be a Good Idea For the Los Angeles Lakers

Steve Nash is a lot of things. A two-time NBA MVP. A legendary point guard. Maybe the best point guard of his generation. A future Hall of Famer.

But at 39 years old, with injuries starting to slow him down, he may also be best able to help the Los Angeles Lakers in one specific way: as trade bait.

Last season, despite the acquisition of superstars Dwight Howard and Nash, the Lakers were looking like an aging, struggling team after little more than a week, which resulted in the firing of Mike Brown and the start of the Mike D'Antoni era in L.A.

One season later, Howard has gone, but the losing continues for the Lakers, who have dropped three of their last four games and have started the season with a 3-5 losing record after the first eight games.

The Lakers have gotten younger, the average age being 28.1 years old on the 2013-14 roster, but Nash, who turns 40 in February, is the oldest on the roster. And unfortunately, like with all great players, time is starting to catch up to him. Last season, he sustained injuries that kept him out of action for 32 games--the worst of it including a left leg fracture that kept him out for seven weeks, and a right hip and right hamstring injury that caused him to miss the last two games of the San Antonio Spurs' 4-0 sweep of the Lakers.

This season, the injury bug has bitten Nash again, the Lakers' starting point guard leaving their 113-90 loss to Minnesota Sunday thanks to a bank injury that will have him seeking a medical evaluation. Still waiting on Kobe Bryant to return, Nash's injury is tough news for Lakers fans, although they're not the only ones bummed out by the injury.

"It's tough," Nash told ESPN Los Angeles Sunday after the game. "I hesitate to even talk about it now because it's probably not a good time. I'm a little emotional. It's hard. I really want to play and I really want to play the way I am accustomed to playing.

"To be so limited is frustrating and also to not know where kind of a cleanish bill of health is [coming] is a little daunting, too."

Nash is nowhere near the playing form that has made him a two-time NBA MVP in his prime. While he has averaged 14.3 points and 8.5 assists over his 17-season career, Nash has totaled a mere 6.7 points and 4.8 assists in six games this season. His shooting, normally a steady 42.8 percent in his career, has also been erratic, Nash has shot only 26.1 from the field so far.

It's pretty hard to envision the Lakers hoisting the NBA title this season in June. With a squad that featured Howard and Bryant last season, the latter playing MVP-level basketball at one point, the Lakers had to limp into the playoffs thanks largely to a last-minute surge powered by an overworked Bryant that cost the Lakers their franchise star for the playoffs. Gone are the days of 2009 and 2010 when Bryant, Pau Gasol, now 33, and Metta World Peace helped power the Lakers to back-to-back titles. Sadly for Lakers fans, that era is now all but over, and things now must shift to undoubtedly one of the most painful parts of any dynasty's conclusion: rebuilding.

And the process must start with Nash.

With a whopping $19 million left on the remaining two years of his contract, the Lakers can ill afford to pay that kind of cash to an aging player who can't stay healthy anymore. Nash isn't going to retire, either, that much he made clear recently.

Despite Nash's injuries, the No. 4 all time NBA assists leader can make an ideal addition to a young, up-and-coming team. The Toronto Raptors come to mind. Hoopsworld is reporting that several league sources see Nash heading for the Great White North. While the Canadian-born Nash might not fetch the dynamic Rudy Gay, the Raptors might be willing to part with some of their other pieces, including the high-scoring DeMar DeRozan (17.1 points per game this season) for a chance to pair Gay's shooting stroke with Nash's passing ability, while the Lakers can inject youth and talent into their roster.

And even if Toronto doesn't come through, there are other options that could net the Lakers a decent windfall. After all, Nash may not be the dynamic player he once was in his prime, but he's still a few cuts above the average point guard in the league, even at age 40, and he could draw strong interest from championship contenders by the February trade deadline -- the Heat come to mind as one frightening option for opposing teams dreading the image of Nash feeding pretty passes to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on a fast break.

Regardless of where they can find a partner, the Lakers would likely be best served if they trade Nash sooner rather than later. They need to start retooling their roster and rebuilding the pieces for the next era, and in order to rebuild an old house, they have to rip the oldest pieces out and start fresh. Nash may not be ready to unlace his sneakers for good yet, but with the sands of time running out on his days as a great player, the Lakers should get as much as they can for him before time runs out.