12:07pm: The Knicks have emerged as the frontrunners for Nash,
tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski (
via Twitter), the Knicks and Suns are in the "critical stages" of negotiating a sign-and-trade deal that would pay Nash $27-30MM for three years.
ESPN.com's Marc Stein tweets that the Knicks would prefer not to include Shumpert and are looking to include a third team to join the deal to avoid including him. However, they'll include Shumpert if they have to, a source tells Stein (Twitter link).
11:46am: While the Knicks and Suns haven't reached any agreement, the Knicks are offering a package headlined by Iman Shumpert, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
11:32am: Berman now tweets that the Knicks and Suns are still working on a sign-and-trade deal, and that "nothing is done" at this point.
11:03am: Berman has since deleted his tweet, so it's unclear if his report stands. We'll keep you posted on the latest developments.
10:48am: The Knicks are "closing in" on a sign-and-trade deal to acquire Steve Nash from the Suns, tweets Marc Berman of the New York Post. In order to pay Nash a competitive salary and make a sign-and-trade palatable for the Suns, the Knicks will likely have to include Iman Shumpert and a handful of players on expiring contracts, including Toney Douglas, Jerome Jordan, Josh Harrellson, and Dan Gadzuric.
The Raptors, Mavericks, Lakers, and Suns are among the other teams in the running for Nash. Toronto appeared to deal a death blow to the Knicks' chances of a sign-and-trade for the veteran point guard when they agreed to sign Landry Fields to an offer sheet worth about $19MM. Fields had been viewed as the most likely candidate to be included in a sign-and-trade deal to the Suns.
Previous reports have suggested that if the Knicks do part with Shumpert in a sign-and-trade for Nash, it will likely be James Dolan's decision, as most members of the team's front office are reluctant to part with the young guard.
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