Brandon Roy officially returns to NBA; Accepts two year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves
Former Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy is officially returning to NBA, after retiring from the league last year due to recurring knee injuries.
Roy announced a few months ago that he was planning on returning to the league for next season and received interest from a number of clubs. The 3 time All Star has now agreed to a two year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves worth $10.4 million.
Roy had received interest from Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers besides the Wolves. He initially wanted to play for the Chicago Bulls but talks broke down because the Bulls did not have enough cap space to sign him, with Derrick Rose’s $95 million contract starting next season and Carlos Boozer being owed $47 million over the next three years. The maximum the Bulls had to offer Roy was the $3.09 million non-taxpayer’s cap exception.
Roy could not have re-signed with his former club Portland Trail Blazers even if he wanted to as a clause in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement bars the merger before the 2013-14 season.
The Timberwolves were very aggressive in their attempt to land Roy as team owner Glen Taylor, President of Basketball Operations David Kahn and Head Coach Rick Adelman made the trip to Seattle a few days ago to talk with Roy regarding a possible agreement.
With Kevin Love already in the roster and Ricky Rubio returning next season from ACL injury, the addition of Brandon Roy will make Minnesota a team to reckon with in the coming seasons. Wolves’ assistant coach Bill Bayno was the assistant coach at Portland during Roy’s successful stint over there and worked with him over the years. The two still share a great relationship and the assistant coach worked Roy out in spring and said that Roy looked like the player who won three All Star nominations as a Trail Blazer.
Roy was an All Star player with the Trail Blazers but suffered throughout the 2010-2011 NBA season where he managed only 12.2 points a game. Cleveland and Dallas were also interested in hiring his services but he decided to opt for the team that had drafted him and traded him to the Blazers.
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