Steve Nash has only played in 60 of the 135 games the Los Angeles Lakers have played since they acquired him, but general manager Mitch Kupchak has no regrets about landing the former two-time MVP award winning point guard despite his lack of appearances in games. The general manager also said they could be looking to make moves to improve before the trade deadline on Feb. 20.
"No regrets," Kupchak said before the Lakers lost 107-103 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. "You have to recognize where you are as a franchise and we felt we had a two-year window, maybe three, to go for a championship and that's what we did. Looking back on it, which nobody can do, that's a different story. But at the time, we knew exactly what we were doing."
Nash, 40, missed Thursday night's game due to nerve root irritation in his back and hamstrings stemming from a collision with Kirk Hinrich of the Chicago Bulls, but he hasn't ruled out a return to the court following the All-Star break.
"I feel terrible for him, I really do," Kupchak said of Nash via ESPN. "Nobody expected him to break his leg in the second game and it's been one thing after another since then. Some players would sulk and kind of get depressed and say, 'Well, I'm 38 years old -- or whatever it is -- and maybe it wasn't meant to be.' But this guy has worked harder than anybody to get back and I just feel terrible for him, I really do."
Kupchak said he also felt bad for Nash as he came over to L.A. with championship aspirations, and the team is 18-35 and fourth in the Pacific Division.
"Someone who's had that kind of career, that's worked that hard, that came here to win a championship, something that's eluded him for years," he told ESPN. "But those things are out of his control and they're out of our control."
According to ESPN, Kupchak has a group of scouting trips in the next few months in hopes to scope out future talent to make the team's future better. Rather than watch his team lose to the top Western Conference team in the Thunder Thursday night, he scouted the Colorado vs. UCLA game.
Kupchak said the team's approach at the trade Feb. 20 deadline will differ from how the team usually approaches it.
"Our approach to the trade deadline will be different than it's been in years past," Kupchak said according to ESPN. "In general, if there's a way for us to improve the franchise going forward, we'll do it. That may or may not be possible, but if there is a way to improve our positioning, our footing, the picture going forward, we'll look to do something."
It remains to be seen what kind of moves that Kupchak and the Lakers will make, but the team will look to make its future brighter as it is currently destined to miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
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