Report: Steve Nash coveted by Nets, Blazers, Raptors in free agency

Steve Nash will be a hot target on the NBA free agent market this summer. (Danny Bollinger/Getty Images)

Over the weekend, Comcast SportsNet Chicago reported that the Chicago Bulls will make an attempt to land free-agent point guard Steve Nash this offseason.

Three teams could join the Bulls, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports: the Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers and Brooklyn Nets. Stein also reports that the Phoenix Suns hope they can keep their franchise player in a Suns uniform.

All three teams have the salary space to make Nash a good offer, while the Bulls might ask him to take a pay cut for the chance to win an NBA title.

The Nets would only be interested if they lost out on Deron Williams, who will be the most sought-after unrestricted free agent on the market this year. The Blazers, Stein rations, could be a fit because they have wanted to acquire Nash for years in trades and finally have the cap space to do so. They also offer Nash a chance to be close to his home in Vancouver. Finally, the Raptors would like to bring Nash north of the border.

Meanwhile, Stein reports that you can count out the Miami Heat and New York Knicks as serious players in the Nash sweepstakes, unless Nash is willing to take a major pay cut to play for either.

But while everyone else is guessing, the most important person hasn't even really started thinking about the process. From Stein's report:

Nash himself, I’m told, is still days away from giving his future deep thought. He said many times late in the regular season that he’ll listen to any pitch that comes this summer, hoping that the next contract he signs -- preferably for three seasons -- will be his last. But he admitted last month at a press conference in Toronto that he hadn’t even started the process.