NBA star Steve Nash speaks at a press conference at the Air Canada Centre where he was announced as the new general manager of Canada Basketball's senior men's team on Tuesday, May 8, 2012.Matthew Sherwood/The Globe and Mail
The Toronto Raptors met with free-agent point guard Steve Nash in New York on Sunday, the first day of free agency in the NBA.
Teams are able to extract verbal commitments from players now, though the first day to sign them formally is July 11.
After eight years with the Phoenix Suns, Nash indicated over the weekend that he's ready to move on. Aside from the Raptors, the suitors for the two-time most valuable player could include the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat.
Nash, 36, has yet to win an NBA championship.
"There's positives to every situation," Nash told ESPN. "The Raptors would be one of those teams where you're probably not going there to win a championship in the next three years. For me it'd be going home to Canada, to a great city, and trying to help an organization move forward.
"I'm open to the positives of all of them. It'd be great if four or five contenders came after me and all offered me a deal, but the reality is I might not get that opportunity. So I'm going to look at every opportunity and Toronto will be one that I'll study as well and look at the opportunity for them to grow in the next three years and what kind of impact I can have on that team. And obviously from a community standpoint, it's a special place for me."
General manager Bryan Colangelo, head coach Dwane Casey and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment minority owner Larry Tanenbaum were reportedly in the delegation, extending a three-year, $36-million (U.S.) contract offer to Nash, who's from Victoria.