"Might Minnesota fans finally see Brandon Roy in a Timberwolves uniform, five years after their team traded him away on draft night in 2006?

It could happen, despite Roy's two deteriorating knees, if ...

• Portland pays him $49 million for his contract's remaining three years and releases him through an "amnesty" provision in the new labor agreement, which allows teams to wipe one current player's contract from its salary-cap books once during the 10-year agreement's term.

• The Wolves then make a winning bid to assume a portion of Roy's contract in a "modified waiver process." That process will allow teams under the salary cap a chance to acquire amnesty players -- a group that could include Roy, Gilbert Arenas, Rashard Lewis and others -- rather than let them sign with the contending team of their own."