PHOENIX - Steve Nash worked out at US Airways Center on Thursday.
Hardly newsworthy in any other December, but this one is the starting point for a Suns season.
Nash, Robin Lopez and Zabian Dowdell were the first Suns through the door when the arena opened to players for the first time since the lockout began July 1. Grant Hill, Channing Frye, Hakim Warrick, Josh Childress, Markieff Morris and Garret Siler are expected to join them today, when player images will return to team promotions and a "Time to Rise" campaign begins.
Unlike most people, Nash believes the Suns are set to rise and be a playoff team after a 40-42 season. Their roster will look largely the same as the Suns keep salary cap space intact to pursue at least one maximum-level free agent in July.
"I definitely would love to see us improve our roster, but I think it's up to us to find that little bit of magic and collectively and individually to give ourselves a chance to win enough games to get in the playoffs," Nash said. "I would never say we're not a playoff team. That should be the minimum of our goals, and let's see how good we can get."
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Nash made it clear that he does not want to try to get the team back to the playoffs without Hill, an unrestricted free agent.
"I'm very hopeful Grant will be back," Nash said. "It's very, very important to me that he is back, personally.
"I think that, all things being even, Grant would want to come back here. I'm sure he's going to be highly coveted by a lot of teams. Phoenix will have to really make him a great offer and put him in a position where he can't say no to coming back."
Nash normally uses a month of team pickup games to prepare for camp, but he gets only a week before this camp opens. The Suns play preseason games against Denver on Dec. 20 (away) and Dec.22 (home) and start the regular season after Christmas.
"I definitely need the next three or four weeks to get into basketball shape, but I'm healthy and my body feels great," said Nash, 37.
The revamped schedule's pace is bound to affect Nash. With 66 games in four months, each team will play three games in three nights at least once.
"It's going to be brutal," Nash said. "Four games a week is tough for anyone. So it'll be hard. But I feel in great shape. I'm hoping to be able to cope with it as well as anybody."
Asked about residual tension between players and owners, Nash said, smiling, "You talking about me and Robert (Sarver)?" referring to the Suns' managing partner.
"We're on two different sides of a collective bargaining agreement," said Nash, who retweeted a writer's anti-Sarver take in September. "So we aren't teammates in that situation. There was a lot of animosity. At times, it got personal. I think everyone is man enough to recognize what it is and maybe even admit to their mistakes in the process and put it behind us and go back to where we were as far as working together and being business partners or teammates.
"I'm excited that we can have resolution. Excited to be back. Excited for the franchise to progress.…"
"I'm just excited to be back and want to do whatever I can to put this team in a playoff position."
