Look for Portland, Brooklyn to make big-money run at Nash

We told you the Chicago Bulls may reach out to Steve Nash and see if the veteran point guard wants to play for them for the league minimum. But if Nash is willing to play for that price to chase a ring he will have his choice of destinations — Miami, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles.

But what if he still wants to get paid?

There are a couple teams that may be attractive and are going to make bigger offers to Nash, reports Marc Stein at ESPN.

Sources briefed on the matter told ESPN.com that the three teams with salary-cap space best positioned to make a credible run at the 38-year-old, at this early juncture, are Portland, Toronto and Brooklyn (should the Nets lose D-Will). New York and Miami are also frequently mentioned as potential Nash destinations, but neither the Knicks nor the Heat have the requisite cap room to make a serious bid.

Toronto has the obvious attraction of being in Nash’s native Canada (wrong end of the country, but still north of the border). And the Raptors are going to be better than people think next season, they are primed to take a step forward. That doesn’t mean Toronto will be good yet, however, and does Nash want that? Brooklyn is kind of in the same boat — if there is no Deron Williams then there is no Dwight Howard and that’s going to mean a lot of losses, Nash or no Nash.

Portland, however, could be a good fit. They have LaMarcus Aldridge inside and a host of good role players such as Nicolas Batum. They are going to have two lottery picks this year to throw in the mix. Portland is rebuilding and even with Nash they are not threatening Oklahoma City yet as the team of the future out West. But they would be pretty good and pretty entertaining, and Nash gets paid.

Still, I would not be shocked if he just stays where he’s at in Phoenix and they make a few roster upgrades.