J.J. Barea Close To Buyout With Minnesota, Wants To Return To Dallas

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J.J. Barea

J.J. Barea Close To Buyout With Minnesota, Wants To Return To Dallas

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Minnesota Timberwolves guard J.J. Barea is close to a buyout with the team and is expected to try and make a return to the Dallas Mavericks:

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the process of finalizing a buyout for veteran guard J.J. Barea that should enable Barea to become a free agent early next week, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that Barea will be waived by the Wolves before Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline for teams to cut rosters down to 15 players and possibly as early as Sunday.

Sources say that the Dallas Mavericks, meanwhile, are planning to re-sign Barea next week once he clears waivers. Barea is expected to clear because his salary-cap number for the coming season is $4.5 million.

Barea was a special part of the Mavericks’ 2011 championship run when he averaged 8.9 points and 3.4 assists per game off the bench in the postseason. He signed with Minnesota for $18 million over four years as a free agent after winning the championship with Dallas.

The Mavericks would have to waive a player on their roster to make room for Barea, which they also did for forward Charlie Villanueva. If Barea does clear waivers and return to his old team, his role should be similar to what was in 2011, particularly with the point guard duties dispersed between Raymond Felton, Jameer Nelson, and Devin Harris.

 

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