The Suns reportedly want Eric Gordon. (Getty Images)

Good luck, Suns. 

With Steve Nash apparently headed off to finish his career elsewhere, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports that the Suns are planning on targeting another free agent when negotiations open Saturday night/Sunday morning at 12:01 a.m. ET. From the Republic: 

The Suns have $23 million in salary-cap space but are trying to retain space for other pursuits, which appears to include a large offer to restricted free agent Eric Gordon.

via Steve Nash's career with the Phoenix Suns nears its end.

The Hornets have essentially unlimited cap room, and the right to match any offer extended to Gordon. Gordon will likely take meetings throughout the league, but players almost never pass on re-signing with their original team coming off their rookie contract, setting up both the maximum number of years (particularly under the new CBA) and a more advanced raise structure. 

But let's say, theoretically, for a minute, that Gordon could worm free of New Orleans and choose to go with the Suns. Why would he?

Assuming the money is the same, there will be other offers, from teams with a better chance of competing immediately. The Suns are facing a total rebuild, and their roster is clogged with medium-sized contracts. Marcin Gortat is their second-best player. There's any number of reasons to believe that the Suns won't be playing for anything meaningful. 

One alluring element might be Phoenix's training staff, which continues to add years to players' careers and help with players who consistently can't stay on the floor. Gordon has been plagued by injuries the last two seasons, including last year which forced him to miss almost the entire season. Maybe the magical healing waters or whatever is in Phoenix will help him to get healthy.

But the odds are that this won't be the case and the Suns will have to find another way to track down its next superstar, should Nash be filling out a forwarding address. 

(HT: PBT)