NBA free agency: Chase Budinger, Timberwolves reach 3-year agreement

The Minnesota Timberwolves have come to an agreement with forward Chase Budinger and will re-sign him to a three-year, $16 million contract, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The second year of the deal, which can be signed on July 10, is a player option.

The opportunity in Minnesota could become more appealing for Budinger since fellow free-agent small forward Andrei Kirilenko could sign elsewhere, and NBA.com's David Aldridge said that factor "tipped the scales" for Budinger.

The Milwaukee Bucks were also in heavy pursuit of Budinger's services.

With Minnesota, Budinger won't be alone in 2013-14. Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio should be healthy, and in general the Timberwolves are expected to be in better shape after a plague of injuries derailed last season.

T-Wolves coach Rick Adelman has coached Budinger with both of the teams he's been on. Budinger played his first three NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets, but was traded to the T-Wolves during the 2012 draft for the 18th pick, which became Terrence Jones.

Budinger averaged 9.4 points per game last season, which was right on his career average, but he only played in 23 games because of a knee surgery near the beginning of the year.

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