Wojnarowski: Timberwolves Trying To Deal Former Blazers G Brandon Roy

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Minnesota Timberwolves are trying to trade former Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were turned down on an offer of Brandon Roy and a first-round pick to Denver for center Timofey Mozgov, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Denver is combing the market further for offers on Mozgov. He will be a restricted free agent this summer, and the emergence of Kosta Koufos could make it hard for Denver to match an offer sheet for Mozgov.

The Timberwolves are trying to include Roy's contract into offers, selling the non-guaranteed value of his 2013-14 year as an appealing factor. Roy is rehabilitating his knees, and neither the Wolves, nor Roy, truly expect he'll be able to play again in the NBA, sources said.

Timberwolves GM David Kahn has been interested in negotiating a buyout with Roy, presumably as a way to show owner Glen Taylor he can get some money back on a failed free-agent signing. A buyout could possibly come after the trade deadline, if Minnesota is unable to use Roy's contract to balance out the money of a trade.

The possibility of a buyout was raised earlier this month.

Roy admitted recently that his career was at a "crossroads" after a series of setbacks with his knee.

Roy underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Nov. 19. The Timberwolves expected him to be sidelined for one month at the time. A few weeks after the surgery, it was reported that Roy was weighing retirement again. Roy has reportedly suffered multiple setbacks during his rehabilitation and he has yet to return to the court although he did reportedly make it back to the practice court.

Back in December, reports surfaced indicating that Roy would consider retirement. The Timberwolves released the following statement on behalf of Roy in response to those reports.

"Last week while practicing, I suffered a setback in my recovery. I've felt better since the recent surgery, but I am not all the way better. The past two days I have been weighing all of my options as I try to continue my basketball career. I have decided to explore additional treatment options and an extensive rehabilitation plan. My goal has been, and continues to be, to return to the basketball court as healthy as possible in order to help our team. "

The Blazers released Roy using the amnesty clause in December 2011 and he spent the 2011-12 season in unofficial retirement. Earlier this season, Kahn, who signed Roy to a two-year deal this summer worth a reported $10 million, said that he was not surprised by Roy missing time due to injury. The early returns for Roy's play were not good. The 2013-14 portion of Roy's contract is reportedly not guaranteed.

While in Portland, Roy underwent arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees in January 2011 and he underwent surgery on his right knee in April 2010 to repair a slight meniscus tear. Back in July, Roy said he underwent blood-spinning treatment in his knees prior to making his comeback with the Timberwolves.

Roy, 28, has averaged 5.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 24.4 minutes in his five appearances for the Timberwolves.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter