Nash Says He'd Play for the Knicks; New York Acquires 29th Pick

Now that Shaq is gone from Phoenix to Cleveland to team up with LeBron James, could Steve Nash be the next star departing the Valley of the Sun?

Appearing in New York Wednesday for his annual charity soccer game, Nash told reporters that he wouldn’t mind playing for the Knicks beginning in 2010, when he will be a free agent.

“Obviously I love New York City; I’m making this my home” Nash, who lives in SoHo during the offseason, told the New York Post. “Mike D’Antoni is one of my favorite coaches. So in a lot of ways it’d be amazing. But it’s not simple; a lot of stuff has to go right for me to be in New York. And I’m happy in Phoenix. We’ll see what happens.

“Obviously I live in the city and I love Mike, so it would definitely be an exciting option for me. But such much stuff has got to happen for that. It’s a ways to go…To live in New York, and I love Mike. It’d be a great option. And it’s always good to have options.”

Nash was a two-time MVP under D’Antoni in Phoenix and Nash also told David Letterman “I’d love to (play for the Knicks). Can you work it out?”

Nash scored three goals in the first half in the soccer game, which also featured potential Knicks target Chris Bosh of Toronto.

Like Nash, Bosh will be a free agent in 2010, but has expressed interest in testing the market.

NEW YORK ACQUIRES 29TH PICK

The NBA champion Lakers sold the No. 29 pick in the draft to the Knicks for $3 million, according to ESPN.com’s Andy Katz.

“Certain teams, they may want to preserve cap space for the next year or two and they may need to add players,” Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told ESPN.com. “A good way to add talent at a fixed price is to have a lot of draft choices and then you can still maintain cap space a year from now.”

Various reports have the Knicks targeting Georgetown’s DaJuan Summers or Miami’s Jack McClinton with that pick.