Pondering career futures for Garoppolo, Tatis, Nash

We speak today of trust. In the proper hands, it’s as comfortable as a gentle breeze. Throw a fracture into the mix, and it may never heal. From the NFL to baseball’s wild-card race to the ever-bizarre NBA, it’s an issue of high relevance.

Start with the 49ers, where Jimmy Garoppolo has one foot out the door and the other lodged in cement. He probably can’t wait to leave town, with a chance to start somewhere. The 49ers haven’t found a clear path to his departure, at least to their advantage.

Which is great. Make Garoppolo the backup quarterback — just as firmly as Trey Lance is entrenched as the starter — and you’re ready to start the season.

Nobody knows whether Lance is trustworthy as a leader, or in response to a crisis. Don’t quit on him early; give him at least the first half of the season to prove his worth and show steady improvement. But if something goes haywire, or he gets hurt, there’s no reason to believe his young backups are capable. Garoppolo would be more than acceptable; he’d be perfect.

If you’ve twice led your team deep into the playoffs, including a Super Bowl, you’ve built a lot of trust in the locker room. Not to mention that Jimmy G. is the epitome of class. Does he deserve a job in which he never leaves the bench? Of course not. He could be the answer for a lot of teams suddenly dealing with an injured quarterback, and that would be a terrific development for his peace of mind.

But if the 49ers keep him around, it could be one of the best decisions they make all year.

Turn now to the Giants, and the fascinating possibility of engaging San Diego in a downto-the-wire race for the third wild-card spot in the National League. It should be a comical mismatch, considering the Padres’ solid rotation and the glittering star power of Manny Machado and Juan Soto within a dangerous-looking lineup.

It’s just that the Padres don’t look right. Most nights, they are profoundly unwatchable. They’ve got a serious trust issue with Fernando Tatis Jr., suspended for the rest of the season (and well into next) for violating MLB’s performanceenhancing drug policy, and they can’t seem to shake it. Tatis appeared sincere and genuinely crestfallen as he apologized to the team and the media, but as he said, “It’s not going to take a couple of days” to regain his teammates’ faith. “It’s going to take a very long time.”

There’s something of a comparison to be found in recent

San Francisco history. On Aug. 14, 2012, Melky Cabrera was the toast of Giants fandom. He was among the league’s batting leaders at .346, he’d been MVP of the All-Star Game (going 2-for-3, including a two-run homer), and fans were coming to the park in white-clad “Melkmen” outfits. Then it all came apart: Cabrera was suspended for 50 games without pay after testing positive for excessive levels of testosterone.

There were 45 games left in the season, raising the possibility of Cabrera returning in the playoffs, but he found the door slammed shut. Knowing a bond of trust had been broken, general manager Brian Sabean and the players simply wrote him off — for good — without a hint of compassion. And as Cabrera drifted into free agency that October, the Giants won their second World Series in three years.

Finally, there is a fine and respected man named Steve Nash. We can’t be sure whether he’s the right coach for the Brooklyn Nets; he was outstrategized by Ime Udoka as the Nets got swept by Boston in the first round of last year’s playoffs. But you wonder if he ever had a chance.

Two years ago, before Nash had even blown a whistle, Kyrie Irving was on record saying the team didn’t really need a head coach. There were times last season when Irving conducted his own practice sessions, away from Nash’s. Kevin Durant appeared to be an ally, dating to Nash’s time as a Warriors consultant, but Durant reportedly told Nets owner Joe Tsai that he wanted a trade unless both Nash and general manager Sean Marks were fired.

Admirably, the Nets called Durant’s bluff, leaving him in the familiar role of “Mr. Miserable,” as Charles Barkley calls him. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear that Nash is resigning, except he’s not a quitter. Not like Irving (quit on the Cavaliers, Celtics and Nets), Durant (Thunder, Warriors and Nets) or Ben Simmons (76ers). But don’t try to pretend that this Ship of Fools will turn into the U.S.S. Sunshine.

“If I’m Steve Nash,” analyst Kendrick Perkins said on ESPN, “every day I walk into that locker room, I can’t trust Kevin Durant. That’s bad.”

When also-rans went home

It’s strikingly easy to make baseball’s postseason, as we learn watching a Giants team that has no business in the conversation. What a contrast to the days of Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey and (for a spell) Orlando Cepeda. For five straight years (1965-69), those fearsome Giants finished second — good for an easy playoff route under today’s system, but not enough when only first-place teams could advance. The way teams can get hot at just the right time, you’d have to think they’d have won a World Series at some point. … A name that came quickly to mind with the passing of Len Dawson, the classy Kansas City Chiefs quarterback: Otis Taylor. Of all the great pass-catch combinations in NFL history, none was tougher in the clutch. The John Madden-era Raiders will attest. … Great to see all the right teams make the WNBA semifinals, with both Game 1s on tap Sunday. It’s been a memorable run for Seattle’s soon-to-retire Sue Bird, and she absolutely shines with her honesty and candor. Addressing a packed house for her farewell speech Aug. 7 at Climate Pledge Arena, she spoke of frequenting Wildrose, a lesbian bar that has been operating since 1984, with teammates when she first moved to town. “I saw a season-ticket holder there,” Bird said. “She approached me and wrapped her arm around me, like, ‘Hey, I’m not sure this is the place you want to be.’ On the inside, I was thinking, ‘Oh, I know where I am.’ ” A great story for just the right crowd. … Celebrations erupted throughout Orange County when Angels owner Arte Moreno announced he had put the team up for sale. Aside from inexcusable arrogance — overriding his baseball people to make one bad decision after another — Moreno treated his staffers like dirt and was a disgrace in the Latino community. At the outset, Moreno donned a sombrero and seemed like “a hell of a story,” wrote L.A. Times columnist Gustavo Arellano. “A Mexican kid from the Tucson barrio who bought a professional sports franchise. He had an incredible chance to be a transformational owner and instead choked, just like his team notoriously does. Good riddance, Arte Moreno. You leave my beloved Anaheim in political ruins and the Angels a joke. May you take your sombrero of shame on your way outta here.”