The Lakers and Blazers had agreed to a three-team trade that would've sent Michael Beasley to the Lakers, with Jamal Crawford and Derek Fisher heading to the Timberwolves, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. However, the T-Wolves pulled out of the deal, says Cooper (Twitter link).
Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune echoes Howard-Cooper's report, saying that Minnesota decided upgrading from Beasley to Crawford wasn't enough to justify the additional salary heading to the T-Wolves (Twitter link). The Wolves also had no guarantee that Crawford would exercise his player option and remain in Minnesota next season, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (via Twitter).
Zgoda adds that Luke Ridnour and Steve Blake don't seem to have been involved in the discussed deal, as the Blazers would have received Dallas' first-round pick from the Lakers (Twitter links).
Hm. Wolves fans can blame themselves for this, if the team bean counters have concluded that paying several million dollars to upgrade for a playoff run isn’t going to pay off at the ticket office.
T-Wolves’ playoff hopes died with Rubio’s knee injury. They don’t need a coach-killer like Crawford, as it is clear he doesn’t want to play the point.