For those who’ve missed Brandon Roy this past year, and to be honest, for the past couple of seasons, there are some good news. The three time NBA All-Star is planning on trying to return to the league for the 2012-2013 season, although it won’t be for the only team he’s played for so far, the Portland Trail Blazers.

Roy announced his retirement after the resolution of the 2011 NBA lockout, just before the beginning of training camps. Too many injuries to his knees over the years (missing 89 games in his first five seasons), leaving barely any cartridge at all, forcing him to retire. The Blazers lost another high draft pick in Greg Oden but Roy, the 2007 Rookie of the year and the player this franchise was being built around, was a bigger hit.

He was pretty much released from the team via the new amnesty clause, taking his 68.7 million dollar for four years contract off their books in order to create a lot of flexibility under the salary cap. It didn’t really help them make the postseason, but there were more problems on this team than just Brandon Roy.

Roy already talked about hoping to return in February, and I guess things have been progressing well for the 27 year old guard, who averaged 19 points per game during his first five seasons in the league. He doesn’t have a twitter account, so he used his friend’s account, with a series of tweets, to announce his return.

But Roy won’t be able to return to Portland, at least not until the 2014-2015 season, when his maximum contract was due to expire. There will probably be plenty of initial interest in the player that was probably one of the top 10-15 players in the league at his best, before the injuries really slowed him down in 2011, turning his role into that of a sixth player at best.

Initial rumor reports indicate that the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat have all shown at least a bit of an interest in the former Washington Huskies star. I find it hard to believe Roy can return to his former All-Star level, but even making it back into the league and becoming a vital piece on the bench of any team would make a wonderful comeback story, that Roy, who always looked like a rather nice guy, probably deserves.