Nov 4, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Brandon Roy (3) dribbles against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Timberwolves 105-86. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Timberwolves officially waived goodbye to Brandon Roy Friday.

For everyone who was hoping to see his expiring, waivable contract used as a trading chip on draft night, the party’s over.

For those who were concerned his $5 million-plus were going to be stuck on the books next year, that’s not a problem anymore, either.

What is still a problem, as Flip Saunders tries to clear financial airspace before navigating the financial unknown that will be the Wolves offseason, is the Wolves perimeter.

The Brandon Roy experiment is officially over, but it never really got off the ground. Even when he was a pipe dream, the twenty minutes a night of solid playmaking the Wolves were hoping to get from Roy was supposed to be supplementing an upgraded stable of capable wing players who, save Andrei Kirilenko and the tiniest tease of Chase Budinger, never materialized.

Though the Wolves have moved on from Roy, they are still chasing the same quality shooting, playmaking perimeter threat.

Per ESPN:

The Minnesota Timberwolves officially ended a failed experiment on Friday, waiving chronically-injured guard Brandon Roy, the team announced.

“We wish Brandon and his family all the best in the future,” said Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders in a statement.

The Wolves, under David Kahn, took a chance on Roy last offseason, signing him to a two-year, $10.5 million deal, but he played in just five games, averaging 5.8 points and 4.6 assists with very little lift in his knees.

The Wolves paid Roy $5.1 million last year, but they are not obligated to pay the remaining money for 2013-2014.

According to a filing obtained by 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson in November, “Compensation Protection for 2013-14 is full, but protection for injury or illness is subject to elimination if player re-injures a past physical condition. Compensation Protection for 2013-14 will remain full in spite of above referenced potential injury if player is (i) on team’s Active List for 65 or more 2012-13 Regular Season games or (ii) plays at least 1,400 minutes during the 2012-13 Regular Season.”

January 6, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders gestures from the sidelines against the New York Knicks in the second half at Verizon Center. The Knicks won 99-96. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The first Minnesota Timberwolves personnel adjustments made by Flip Saunders were made in the scouting department. Moving on from the man credited with the Euro-centric flavor recently acquired by the Wolves and Brandon Roy favor-hires is the kind move that could either mark a departure from cronyism (unlikely) in favor of research-based, number-crunching, modern scouting techniques that Saunders has paid lip service to, but would be given the chance to prove by whatever moves to fill the now vacant regional and international scouting roles are taken.

As nice a story as European players Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved have been, the likelihood any of them, save Shved, wouldn’t have been on the Wolves’ radar regardless of their international scouting coordinator is debatable. As Rubio was a sensation, Pekovic was on everybody’s Euro-stash radar and AK is AK.

And I quote:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Flip Saunders has started the restructuring expected when he took over as Minnesota Timberwolves president last week.

Saunders fired international scouting coordinator Pete Philo, regional scout Curtis Crawford and Will Conroy on Tuesday. The moves were made as Saunders clears room to get a staff together for next month’s draft.

Philo was instrumental in ushering in a new focus on foreign players. He helped land point guard Ricky Rubio, guard Alexey Shved and put the Timberwolves at the forefront of that growing trend. He also played a key role on draft night.

Crawford is a close friend of Brandon Roy’s and was moved into a scouting position after he did not make the team last training camp.