Report: Minnesota shopping guard to free up money for big

We were talking with you earlier today about how the Minnesota Timberwolves want to sign one more big man, but they are limited. They would like to bring back Anthony Tolliver but he wants more than the veteran minimum. And Minnesota can’t offer more than that right now.

But they are looking into ways to free up money, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (hat tip to IamaGM.com).

They’re still asking Anthony Tolliver to remain patient as they explore deals that would allow them to trade a guard and create salary-cap space to sign another player. Right now, they can only offer league-minimum contracts and you know guys like Tolliver and Mehmet Okur are waiting, looking for more than that.

What guards, you ask? Well, we can take a few educated guesses. Off the top we can rule out moving Ricky Rubio, Brandon Roy or just-signed Alexey Shved.

That leaves J.J. Barea, Luke Ridnour and Malcolm Lee. Barea has three seasons and is owed $14.5 million, which is not an easy deal to move. Ridnour is owned $8.6 million over two years, a deal someone might take for a backup point. Lee is on a minimum deal for the next two seasons.