National Basketball Association

Wolves' Budinger exercises player option

Published Apr. 29, 2015 7:37 p.m. ET

foxsports

MINNEAPOLIS -- In a move becoming of a savvy, six-year NBA veteran, Chase Budinger took stability over opportunity.

For now, at least.

The Timberwolves forward exercised the $5 million player option on his contract for next year Tuesday, according to FOX Sports 1 NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. By doing so, Budinger put off becoming an unrestricted free agent until next summer.

The day of Minnesota's final 2014-15 game, against Oklahoma City, Budinger hinted at his desire to stick around for another year. "Right now, I'm under contract for next year, so my plan is to be back here for sure," he said.

The decision ensures Budinger of $5 million in guaranteed salary for the 2015-16 season. More notably, perhaps, it means he'll become an unrestricted free agent in a 2016 offseason where the NBA salary cap and scales are expected to rise considerably as the league's new TV deal kicks in.

A subject of frequent trade rumors and physical misfortune during his time in the Twin Cities, Budinger just completed his first fully healthy season here. The reserve wing tallied just 6.8 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting (36.4 from 3-point range), three bounds and one assist per game but found a late-season groove, averaging 13.4 points on 50.3 percent shooting (40.3 from 3) during the Wolves' final 19 games.

Two surgeries on the same left-knee meniscus and a late ankle injury last season cost Budinger 100 games from 2012-14. The Rockets traded the Encinitas, Calif., native and Arizona product to Minnesota after the lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign.

With Budinger's salary locked in, the Wolves currently have about $10 million in cap space as the NBA Draft Lottery approaches. They're still waiting for Kevin Garnet to decide if he has another year or two left on his 38-year-old legs -- a decision that probably won't come till July when free agency begins.

With the league's worst record this past season, Minnesota has a 25-percent chance at earning the 2015 NBA Draft's top pick via the lottery and will select no lower than fourth.

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