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AAU team who housed and coached Barea, wasn't sold on arrival.
"When he picked me up for the first time in the airport during my senior year, he looked at me like, 'Oh my God, who is this kid?'" says Barea.
That kid led Miami Christian to a 38-2 record, 32 points against Amar'e Stoudemire's Cypress Creek squad and a 1A title – despite having mononucleosis so severe, just playing required his family to sign a waiver absolving the school of liability because a hit to the spleen could have killed him.
One problem: He still didn't pass the eye test with recruiters. But Northeastern took him after a recommendation from Kansas State's Frank Martin, an ex-high school coach in South Florida. The school known for late Celtic guard Reggie Lewis became known for Barea, who left in the top three of nearly every of- fensive category, averaging 20.3 points per game over his career among a slew of awards.
"I run across maybe 20 Division I NCAA coaches who congratulate me on J.J. and say the following: 'Wow did I make a mistake not recruiting that kid,'" says Alvarez.
He then went international with Puerto Rico, leading the na- tional team in the 2004 U21 FIBA Worlds qualifier with almost 25 points per game, outplaying Chris Paul and the United States with 27 points, six dimes and six boards in the final, an American victory.
One problem: He didn't get drafted in 2006.
It was on to the summer league, then, including stops with Golden State and Dallas. Barea earned a non-guaranteed contract after the final preseason game with the Mavericks, who sent him to a short- lived, seven-game stay in the D-league in February.
Dropping 43 and 41 points in consecutive games will do that to your stock.
His recall in the winter of 2007 began a solid, if unremarkable five-year stretch in Dallas that has seen him start as many as 18 games (in 2009-10) and average 20 minutes per game the last three years. But he got to play, and 2010-11 was his best season to date, with 9.5 points, 3.9 assists and 44 percent shooting per game averages that were better than or matched career bests.
"I was in the NBA so I just wanted to get better," he says. "Get better and then that's your job, so I was just in the gym all day shooting and getting better and listening to people and practicing with the guys. That made me a lot better and got me ready for this year."
Barea is best on the pick and roll, one of the staple sets of Rick Carlisle's offense with Nowitzki as the likely undisputed champion of the roll. When that option isn't open and a hedging defender hesitates, Barea weaves to the rim.
"He's hard to guard because he's crafty and hard to predict," says Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson. "He's quick, can shoot and can fin- ish. That's a deadly combo for a guard."
It's a combination some feel was crucial to a key decision in the Finals. He'd averaged 9.5 points per game in 20 minutes during the regular season, then went 11.4 and 11.5 in the rounds against Los Angeles and Oklahoma City in no more than 18 minutes per game. So with a chance to break Miami in Dallas for Game 4,
Carlisle started Barea against DeShawn Stevenson because of a matchup he liked over Bibby. His minutes increased every game of the Finals, but that game was his best, shooting 6-of-11 from the field, with the four threes, in the 112-103 win.
"Well it caught me off guard," says Barea of the start, "but I knew what he wanted."
"I think we needed another scorer out there – I mean J.J. was so great in the Lakers series and nobody could stop the guy and it was awesome to see," says Mavs forward Brian Cardinal. "After that, Coach really just wanted to get him a few more minutes, and one of the only ways to do that is by starting him. Starting him and having him go against Bibby right away was huge and energized us right away, and I think that's really one of the main reasons why we won."
AN UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT, 50
Barea has spent the summer after the Mavericks' title waiting for the payday he be-