Larry Nance says Draymond Green missing piece for Suns’ title hopes

DALLAS – Larry Nance last played for the Phoenix Suns in the 1987-88 season, but still keeps up with the franchise he started his NBA career with back in 1981.

Lance spoke very highly of the current Suns on Betway Insider, saying they can seriously compete for a championship if they stay healthy.

“They’ve been in some close games so far and I know there’s a lot of really good teams in the league this year, but the Phoenix Suns are definitely one of them,” Nance said.

Phoenix (7-1) has matched its best start ever through eight games and are 4-0 in games decided by four points or fewer after Wednesday’s 115-112 win over the Miami Heat.

The Suns face the Dallas Mavericks on Friday at American Airlines Center. Nance likes their Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal and thinks new head coach Mike Budenholzer can “find that winning formula,” but believes acquiring one specific player can put them over the top.

Draymond Green.

“I think a guy like Draymond Green, who can take the ball, distribute it to where it needs to go and get it to those elite guys like KD in order to make it easier for them,” the 65-year-old Nance said.

Technically, Nance said someone “like” the Golden State Warriors forward.

“The problem is they can’t have Draymond Green because the Golden State Warriors won’t want to let him go and there’s not many Draymonds in this league but if the Suns had a guy like that, I believe it would change them a lot and make them even better,” Nance said.

Durant and Green were teammates in Golden State for three seasons, reaching the finals each time and winning back-to-back championships (2017, 2018). They had a memorable falling out in Golden State, but Nance wants to see them reunite in Phoenix.

“Seeing KD and Draymond team up again would be something too,” Nance said. “They’d be fussing at each other but they’re both great players and it would be awesome to see them as teammates again.”

Green and Suns 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic had a physical incident last season. Green was suspended for 12-games after striking Nurkic in the face in a Dec. 12 game the Suns won, 119-116, in Phoenix.

Like Phoenix, Golden State has started the season 7-1. The Warriors stunned the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, 118-112, in Boston as Stephen Curry posted a near triple-double of 27 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Nance was also asked about the idea of Phoenix trading Durant based on whether he can “co-exist” with Booker after there was offseason talk about the Suns doing so.

The franchise quickly shut down those rumors this past summer. Durant is having an MVP start to the season and he and Booker are certainly coexisting.

More:Kevin Durant looks like MVP candidate: What we learned in Suns win over Heat

“That’s a tough question to ask me because I’m a Kevin Durant fan and I’m also a major Booker fan too,” Nance said. “So, I would do everything I could to make sure those two worked together. They are both great guys and I do think that they work together so I would give them both another shot at least.”

Durant has posted five 30-point games already through just eight games. He’s averaging 27.8 points on 55.1% shooting, making 42% of his 3s in Year 18 of his Hall of Fame NBA career.

“Even at 36, KD is still one of the elite players right now and I think he’ll be one of the most elite players for quite a while still,” Nance continued. “If I did trade KD, I can’t think of any player in the league that I would want back for him. I would just keep him.”

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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