Lakers, Mavericks reportedly now pursuing Steve Nash

As the Raptors and Knicks duke it out for Steve Nash, the Lakers and Mavericks have now also emerged as suitors for the 38-year-old point guard’s services.

For the Lakers, landing Nash isn’t going to be so simple. Potential future Chris Broussard source David Aldridge of NBA.com has the details:

The Lakers, with a payroll already projected in excess of $83 million next season, would only be able to offer Nash an exception starting at $3.09 million for next season. It’s unlikely Nash would take that, so a sign-and-trade deal would be a more realistic possibility.

The Lakers do have a viable starting point guard they could send Phoenix in such a deal, Ramon Sessions, who became an unrestricted free agent after surprisingly opting out of the last year of his contract. Forwards Jordan Hill and Matt Barnes are also free agents.

Aldridge also mentions Metta World Peace as another available piece the Lakers can offer in a Nash sign-and-trade, but it’s doubtful the Suns want any part of him and his clunky two-year, $15 million contract. But probably mostly because he’s Metta World Peace.

Meanwhile, the Mavs, after losing out on Deron Williams on Tuesday, have now moved on to Plan B. And Plan B is reportedly reuniting Nash and Dirk Nowitzki.

The Mavs reportedly are fighting the Knicks also for Jeremy Lin and Jason Kidd, or as they’d be known in Dallas, “Not Deron Williams or Steve Nash.”