CASPER
New member
PHOENIX (AP)—Steve Nash(notes) and the Phoenix Suns have agreed on a two-year, $22 million contract extension, his agent said.
Bill Duffy confirmed the agreement Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.
The deal will keep the two-time MVP point guard under contract with the Suns through the 2011-2012 season.
The 35-year-old Nash, entering his 13th NBA season, had one year left on his contract that would pay him $13 million next season.
The agreement first was reported by ESPN.
The Suns and Nash had been in negotiations for several weeks on a deal that would keep him in Phoenix. He will be 38 when the contract expires. He is expected to sign the agreement later this week.
Under the agreement, $6 million of the final two years of the contract will be deferred, with $3 million being paid in each of the two years following the expiration of the contract, Duffy said.
The deal was pushed closer to completion last Wednesday when owner Robert Sarver met with Duffy in Las Vegas to sweeten the team’s earlier offer.
The Suns lured Nash to Phoenix in 2004 in a celebrated effort that included a flight to Dallas by then-owner Jerry Colangelo and a host of representatives of the team. When Mavericks owner Mark Cuban balked at re-signing Nash, at age 30, at the amount he wanted, the point guard signed a five-year, $65 million contract with Phoenix.
What followed were the best years of Nash’s career as the maestro of the high-octane offense of then-coach Mike D’Antoni. He was named the league’s MVP in 2005 and 2006 and was a first-team all-NBA selection in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Bill Duffy confirmed the agreement Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.
The deal will keep the two-time MVP point guard under contract with the Suns through the 2011-2012 season.
The 35-year-old Nash, entering his 13th NBA season, had one year left on his contract that would pay him $13 million next season.
The agreement first was reported by ESPN.
The Suns and Nash had been in negotiations for several weeks on a deal that would keep him in Phoenix. He will be 38 when the contract expires. He is expected to sign the agreement later this week.
Under the agreement, $6 million of the final two years of the contract will be deferred, with $3 million being paid in each of the two years following the expiration of the contract, Duffy said.
The deal was pushed closer to completion last Wednesday when owner Robert Sarver met with Duffy in Las Vegas to sweeten the team’s earlier offer.
The Suns lured Nash to Phoenix in 2004 in a celebrated effort that included a flight to Dallas by then-owner Jerry Colangelo and a host of representatives of the team. When Mavericks owner Mark Cuban balked at re-signing Nash, at age 30, at the amount he wanted, the point guard signed a five-year, $65 million contract with Phoenix.
What followed were the best years of Nash’s career as the maestro of the high-octane offense of then-coach Mike D’Antoni. He was named the league’s MVP in 2005 and 2006 and was a first-team all-NBA selection in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
