The Minnesota Timberwolves and JJ Barea are nearing a buyout of his contract and that means he will become a NBA free agent and reports have Barea looking to sign back with the Dallas Mavericks after he previously was with the team and the move could happen ahead of the start of the season this week, which begins on Wednesday night when the Mavs take on the San Antonio Spurs.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Wolves are working on a buyout with Barea and he will look to sign back with the Mavericks once that gets done. ESPN.com spoke with sources that said Barea would be waived and his buyout has been completed according to Yahoo Sports and now he can sign with another team. Barea has a salary-cap number of over $4.0 million and that is why he was likely to clear waivers before the move went down.
Barea was with the Mavericks when they won the championship a few years ago and during that playoff run he averaged nearly nine points per game along with three assists. Barea then signed a four year deal with the Wolves. Flip Saunders announced the news about Barea, who signed a deal worth $17 million when he came to Minnesota. Ricky Rubio and Mo Williams are starting for the Wolves and with the team getting Andrew Wiggins, there wasn't much room for Barea.
The Wolves and Mavs both have high hopes for this season and now Barea moves on. The Mavericks are opening the season against the Spurs to start the season and they come in after winning 49 games last year. The team was the eighth seed in the west and they gave the Spurs some trouble, although not enough to upset them. The team was very solid after missing the playoffs the year before and now with Chandler Parsons in, the Mavs should be even better.
