Chase Budinger has knee surgery, out indefinitely

Published Oct. 1, 2013 10:51 a.m. ET

foxsports

MINNEAPOLIS -- Chase Budinger underwent another operation on his embattled knee Monday, and the Timberwolves still don't know when they'll get their small forward back.

For the second time this year, Budinger had arthroscopic surgery to take care of meniscus damage in his left knee. Sports medicine guru Dr. James Andrews performed a meniscectomy, a procedure where part of or the entire meniscus is removed.
Andrews performed a similar operation last November after Budinger twisted his knee in a game against Chicago. That procedure repaired his torn meniscus and kept him out of the lineup for more than three months and 59 games.

No timetable for his return has been released. The team characterizes him as "sidelined indefinitely."

Budinger was expected to contend for a starting job after re-signing for three years at $15 million. He spent the offseason continuing to rehab the knee and said it felt much better during pre-camp workouts, though it was markedly sore upon completing them.

At some point last week, it hampered him enough that Minnesota's training staff had him undergo an MRI, which revealed a cartilage injury.

So he went to the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Florida, where Andrews determined it'd be more beneficial to extract the meniscus rather than repair it.

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