The Mavericks roster continues to grow.
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The 26-year-old free agent point guard, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, is near to agreeing to terms on a deal that would bring Lin to the Mavericks.
The deal includes a player option for a third year, Puerto Rican newspaper El Nueva Dia reported Monday.
Barea’s deal uses the Mavericks’ cap-room exemption. Free agency is far from over, so it will be interesting to see what Cuban does with the absence of a starting point guard.
Barea, a key member of the Mavericks’ 2010-11 championship team, spent his first five seasons with Dallas before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves after the title. He averaged 6.3 points and 2.3 rebounds, working low minutes as an offensive piece when Dirk Nowitzki Saturday Stein indicated Villanueva’s time in Dallas won him “a lot of admirers” within the organization.
One position they still need to address is point guard. During the playoffs, he was called upon to start the final two games of the Mavericks’ first round loss to the Houston Rockets after the team parted ways with Rajon Rondo.
Villanueva, the seventh overall pick in the 2005 draft, resuscitated his career in a role as a sharpshooter off the Mavs’ bench last season, when he earned respect of coaches and teammates with his professionalism and constant upbeat attitude.
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New signee Wesley Matthews is still recovering from an Achilles injury for the foreseeable future, making the Barea signing all the more important. When he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, he can stretch the floor by spotting up from the outside. Barea to fill it.
