Timberwolves win final preseason game

ST. LOUIS – If Timberwolves veteran guard J.J. Barea really needed to play his way onto a team that owes him $4.5 million either way this season, Friday's 113-112 comeback victory over Chicago just might have done it.

The Wolves have until late Monday afternoon to trim their 17-man roster to the NBA's 15-man maximum in advance of Wednesday's season opener at Memphis.

Waiving rookie Brady Heslip is an easy decision. Paying off Barea's remaining season is one of a handful of options the Wolves have for their final move, a decision that Wolves coach and basketball boss Flip Saunders called "really difficult" before Friday's game.

Barea played a mere 12 minutes Friday, but all of them — not to mention nine points scored — came in a fourth quarter when the Wolves overcame a 13-point point deficit with 7:50 left to finish the preseason with a four-game winning streak.

Barea's play with a unit that included fellow reserves Chase Budinger, Gorgui Dieng, Anthony Bennett and Zach LaVine against some of the Bulls' starters gives Saunders a little something more to think about this weekend, right?

"No question," Saunders said. "That's what he can do. If he can accept a role, he can become a very valuable individual for you. Hopefully, guys know we're going to play the guys who help us."

That role is a third point guard behind starter Ricky Rubio and veteran Mo Williams. That role likely will include nights such as Friday when he's used specifically to spark a team that has fallen behind, and it will include nights when he doesn't play at all.

"No question, I see a role here for me," Barea said. "I'm a different type of player than they have on the team. But I stay out of that. I'm glad that's not my problem. They've got to figure that out. I've just got to come do my job and see what happens. … I want to play every night, I'm not going to lie. I want to help this team out every night as much as I can. But it all depends on the situation, and that's a decision Flip has to make."

Saunders calls Robinson a player with "huge upside" and an NBA future, but he also notes the Wolves' glut at Robinson's natural small-forward position and the possibility that another team could give him an offer sheet next summer that the Wolves couldn't match. He would be the most cost-efficient option because he is believed to have been guaranteed only about $200,000 for this season.

"Obviously, I'm thinking about that a little bit, trying to put that behind me," said Robinson, who didn't play Friday. "Whatever happens, happens. That's the mentality I have. I control what I can control, and I think I've been playing well in practice and the games. Who knows what is going to happen? But I've done all I can do."

Rookie Andrew Wiggins (bruised butt) and second-year forward Shabazz Muhammad (heel) each said they could have played Friday, but Saunders held out both as a precaution with Wednesday's season opener fast approaching.

• Forward Thaddeus Young was active on both ends Friday, scoring 17 points at one and getting five steals at the other. "I have to cut down on my turnovers, though," said Young, who had four of those.

• Don't forget: The Wolves have until 11 p.m. Friday to sign Rubio to an extension or he will become a restricted free agent next summer. Saunders praised Rubio's 19-point, five-assist, two-steal, three-turnover game Friday, saying: "He's been very solid these last three, four games. He has been really active, running the show and playing very aggressive."