HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Surely, this news won’t make anyone in Canada feel better about it now. And there is nothing worse in free agency than “almost” nabbing the huge star that could change the fate of a franchise. But if it makes you feel any better Toronto, Steve Nash was almost … a Raptor.
That homecoming dance would have been off the charts, of course — Canada’s beloved two-time MVP returning to his roots and carrying the banner for a Raptors team trying to navigate its way back to postseason relevance.
How close was it to happening? Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun made the trip to Los Angeles to find out:
In an interview with QMI Agency last week, Nash confirmed he was on the verge of signing a deal with the Raptors. GM Bryan Colangelo reportedly offered the Victoria, B.C., product a three-year, $36-million contract — close to $10 million more than he received from the Lakers.
“I was very close, you know,” Nash said. “Because it appeared that they were going to be an option long before free agency started. So I got my head around that and I was comfortable with that and happy with the opportunity to play in Toronto. But when this opportunity (with the Lakers) became a reality, I couldn’t pass it up.”
