III: Naturally, too late
The Minnesota Timberwolves actually drafted 6-foot-6 215-pound shooting guard Brandon Roy with their sixth overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft. But the Timberwolves had their eye on Randy Foye, Now, Foye was a solid addition to the Timberwolves roster, and he played well for the Wolves for three seasons. But Roy was a far brighter shooting star.
Unfortunately, his star all but burned out before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2012-13 NBA season. He played just five games for the Timberwolves, on a $5.1 million contract. That worked out to more than one million dollars in cold hard cash for each game played.
Signing Brandon Roy was as much of a business decision as it was a basketball decision. Roy, the ‘One that got away,’ was a huge gamble by the Timberwolves to see if the team that drafted him could help him resuscitate his NBA career.
Unfortunately, with just five games played, the Timberwolves could not even get Roy’s career’s heart beating one more. At the time that Brandon Roy attempted his comeback, he had four NBA teams who pushed hard to sign him. He chose the Timberwolves:
"“Minnesota is the only team we met with where everybody was in the room at the same time. It meant a lot to Brandon that they all came out to see him, especially the owner. It showed him he was high on their priority list.”- as per Greg Lawrence, agent for Brandon Roy"
While it did not pan out, it did demonstrate that the Timberwolves remained committed to winning.