The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed free-agent guard José Juan Barea. The deal is reportedly for four years, $19 million.
“We are excited to add J.J. Barea to our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “His experience, leadership capabilities and all-around play should help us immensely this coming season and beyond.”
Barea, 27, played in 81 games for Dallas in 2010-11, averaging 9.5 points and 3.9 assists in 20.5 minutes per contest. The 6-0 guard also appeared in 21 playoff games for the World Champion Mavericks, averaging 8.9 points and 3.4 assists in 18.6 minutes. Barea tallied 22 points and eight assists in the Mavs’ 2011 Western Conference Semifinals-clinching win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He started the final three games of the 2011 NBA Finals vs. Miami, scoring 17 points in Game 4 and 15 points (on 7-for-12 shooting) in the deciding Game 5.
Barea has played five seasons in the NBA, all with Dallas, and owns career averages of 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 315 games.
A native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Barea attended Northeastern University from 2002-06, averaging 20.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists over his four-year collegiate career. He was not drafted by an NBA team and signed as a free agent with Dallas in August of 2006. He also spent time with the NBA D-League Fort Worth Flyers in 2006-07.
