Steve Nash will "definitely consider" signing with the Knicks. (Getty Images)

After years of no-comments, expressions of happiness in Phoenix and a general lack of interest in changing zip codes, Suns free agent point guard Steve Nash is finally on the open market and able to discuss potential landing spots without offending or annoying anyone.

And he's wasting no time. With free agency to open in a matter of weeks, Nash said this week that the New York Knicks -- a team linked to Nash in trade rumors for more than two years -- are on his list, according to ESPNNY.com.

"The Knicks are a great franchise and I live in New York City (each summer), so I'd definitely consider them if they were interested," the Phoenix Suns' mainstay said at a promotional appearance in Manhattan.

"I want to wait and see what's actually on the table," he said. "I'm open and excited. I'm looking at every possibility right now. It sounds like there are a number of teams that are interested."

Unless they blow things up with a dramatic trade or two, the Knicks, with big-dollar contracts already handed out to Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, will be over the salary cap and therefore won't have much money to toss at Nash. 

The New York Post reports that Nash landing with the Knicks isn't all that likely.

One confidant of Steve Nash doubts the star point guard will truly give the Knicks any consideration even if they have their $5 millon mid-level exception, despite his remarks at a promotional appearance with Walt Frazier yesterday.

The confidant said Nash doesn’t really believe the Knicks are close enough to a title to take less money and didn’t like how former coach Mike D’Antoni, his buddy from Phoenix, was treated. Nash will get offers for more than $5 million, especially from Phoenix.

Good luck playing the mind-reading game with Nash, one of the NBA's most famous free thinkers. At 38, the time is now if he wants to land on a true contender and push for a title. But, like any free agent, there's a matter of balancing his desire for playing time, money, and location, too.

Should they acquire Nash, the Knicks might move into the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, but they would certainly remain a major cut below the likes of the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. Unless something(s) absolutely insane happens this summer, signing with the Knicks wouldn't mean meaningful postseason success for Nash. The fact that New York can't bowl him over with a big-dollar offer doesn't help matters. One would think that Nash can do better than a desireable, big-market location, an above-average roster of teammates and a below-market salary offer.

Nash has made more than $119 million in salary during his 16-year NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks and Suns. A best case scenario -- from an NBA fan's perspective -- is that he signs on for small potatoes with one of the league's elite teams (the Heat, Bulls, Thunder, Mavericks, Lakers or Spurs). He deserves another title shot, and the NBA world deserves seeing him on the postseason stage, somewhere he hasn't been since 2010. Unfortunately, dreams like that rarely come true in the modern NBA. When they do, as with Karl Malone to the Lakers, it's usually a few years too late to be intriguing.