Dallas Mavericks: J.J. Barea confident he will be back in Dallas next year

The Dallas Mavericks suffered a big loss last season when J.J. Barea went down with an achilles tear. A severe injury paired with his contract ending and turning 35 this summer has had some fans questioning his return. Looks like we have an answer.

In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks witnessed the emergence of the then 26-year-old J.J. Barea as a real threat coming off the bench. Dallas lost him in free agency the next season as the Minnesota Timberwolves came in and scooped him up. He spent three years there before making his way back to the Mavs.

Barea has been with the team for the past 5 seasons and now, with his contract up, the Mavs and Barea will have to figure out what the next step is. Many fans are unsure which route the team wants to go, but it looks like J.J. may have already shown his hand today via Twitter.

According to Barea’s (or rather Barea’s public relations team’s) Twitter, the Puerto Rican is having a bit of a fundraiser/contest for fans. In the contest, Barea is raising money for his charity and offering a great prize, including flights for two, a hotel room and two VIP tickets…for the Dallas Mavericks home opener.

This obviously implies that J.J. Barea is planning on being back with the Dallas Mavericks next season. Although this is not exactly a surprise in itself, it is interesting that the end result is already expected before the Mavs have done their due diligence this summer. This may mean that the Mavericks are ready to bring him back on a veteran minimum contract.

This is a very interesting story and one to follow going forward. From waiting to see what kind of contract he will get to if he will even be ready to go by the time the Mavs open the season, there are a lot of questions surrounding Barea. Either way, it sounds like we can plan on seeing him back in a Mavs uniform next season.