12:26pm: A source involved in the talks tells Berger that the proposal is “dead,” though others are holding out hope for revival. Some members of the Memphis camp suspect the Timberwolves are using these discussions to further their chances for a different deal, according to Amick (Twitter links).
12:13pm: The Grizzlies are “very unlikely” to yield on Allen, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
11:12am: The Wolves are eager to swap Barea, but they’re somewhat reluctant to move Budinger, Wolfson adds (on Twitter).
11:01am: There’s no way Wolves executive Flip Saunders will make the trade without Allen as part of it, Wolfson tweets.
10:50am: The teams are “nowhere close to a deal,” according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal, who seconds what Wojnarowski is hearing about the Grizzlies’ reluctance to include Allen (Twitter link). Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities nonetheless hears the clubs are making progress, as he notes on Twitter.
10:45am: The Wolves are insisting that Allen be included along with Prince in a deal for Budinger and Barea, but the Grizzlies are resisting at the moment, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
WEDNESDAY, 10:23am: The Grizzlies and Wolves have gained momentum toward a deal involving Prince and Allen, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Presumably, Budinger and Barea are also still a part of the talks.
MONDAY, 7:04pm: The Grizzlies are discussing a deal with the Timberwolves centered on forward Chase Budinger and guard J.J. Barea, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Memphis wants to include forward Tayshaun Prince into the package and the deal could be expanded to include guard Tony Allen, though components of a proposed deal are still fluid.
Memphis has been trying to unload Prince and his cumbersome contract, sources tell Wojnarowski. The forward is earning $7.2MM this season and will make $7.7MM in 2014/15. on his contract. Meanwhile, Wolves GM Flip Saunders is believed to want to add defensive toughness to his roster, and that would make Allen a natural fit.
Budinger, 25, missed much of the early season recovering from knee surgery, and has averaged 6.0 PPG in 17.7 minutes per game this season. Barea, 29, is averaging 8.7 PPG in 18 minutes per contest this season. The Wolves badly want to make the playoffs this season with Kevin Love’s free agency on the horizon and they have reportedly been open to moving the diminutive guard in order to help make that happen.
Allen has been sidelined since early January with a fracture in his left hand. In his 27 games this season, Allen has averaged 10.2 PPG off of 49.3% shooting from the floor.
As a Wolves fan, I like this deal should it go down.
And Tayshaun/Allen are going to induce Love to stay in Minny? Ok. That makes sense. /sarcasm off
There is not a reasonable move Wolves can do to tice Love to stay, No big names available via trade.
Exactly. There isn’t a point making a move for someone like Tayshaun. It’s just going to set the franchise back.
Maybe