Wolves, Hudson strike a deal Parties settle on $37 million, 6 years BY MIKE WELLS, Pioneer Press Point guard Troy Hudson will return to the Timberwolves next season. Team officials and Hudson's agent, Bill Neff, agreed in principle on a contract that will keep Hudson in a Minnesota uniform for at least six more years. The deal is believed to be for the mid-level exception of about $5.1 million a season, meaning it could be worth $37 million over the six years. The NBA, Wolves owner Glen Taylor and Hudson still have to approve the deal. Contracts cannot be signed until Wednesday, when the league's personnel moratorium ends. Hudson is coming off ankle surgery in April, and questions surround how effective he could be, so his deal could change depending on the number of games he plays. Despite the ankle surgery, Hudson received interest from other teams around the league, such as Toronto, Indiana, Golden State and Houston. Hudson played in only 29 games last season. He suffered an ankle injury in the last exhibition game, Oct. 23 against Indiana. He tried to return several times, only to have a setback each time. He had season-ending surgery on April 14 and is scheduled to have his walking boot removed Wednesday. Although the Timberwolves aren't in the Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O'Neal sweepstakes, they did well to re-sign Hudson, a former Continental Basketball Association player who can quickly go on scoring streaks. In the 2003 playoffs against the Los Angles Lakers, he averaged nearly 24 points a game. Hudson and Sam Cassell, who had hip surgery, should give the Wolves one of the best point guard tandems in the league as long as both stay healthy. Hudson likely will be used in as a sixth man, like Sacramento's Bobby Jackson. With Hudson signed, the Wolves can shift their attention to re-signing Trenton Hassell and Fred Hoiberg. Hassell is a restricted free agent, meaning the Wolves can match any offer up to the mid-level exception. Hassell's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Monday that he has had some talk with the Wolves, but Hassell still will go through the free-agent process. Denver is one team that has expressed interest in Hassell. The Wolves should not have any problems re-signing Hoiberg.
i have a good feeling everyone will be back, but i think we should release gary trent and oliver miller and sign that guy on our summer league team
Hopefully the point guard tendum will workout because it seemed a little off, when they were both in the lineup. Both unlike Last season both should be in the lineup from the start of the season, so they can get comfortable sharing the point guard minutes earlier in the season. I will say this Cassell & Hudson will put up alot of points,lets just hope they decide to play a little Defense at the pg position lol.
That seems like a lot of money for a player who hardly played at all in the regular season and playoffs, but, I suppose that he has proven beforehand that he's worth some pretty good money. Hopefully he's able to stay healthy next year and return the the Troy Hudson that was phenomenal in his first year as a TWolve or when he was one of the best 6th men in the league with Orlando.
With the Lakers crumble, the Kings aging, and the Spurs mentality this is the best shot the Wolves have at getting to the finals! I say load up and get at it!
Hudson was obviously re-signed to a long contract with the future in mind when Cassell retires. He will basically be the starting point guard two or three years down the road when Cassell falters or retires. I agree with HEAV07 in that this is the best shot the Timberwolves have at the championship. Will this be the year? We shall soon find out.
I think it will be. If not, wait a few years and they'll get another shot. Nobody has talked about the consequences this has on the Wolves other interests. How does this affect their ability to get a center & Hassell?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting KG is the MVP:</div><div class="quote_post">Nobody has talked about the consequences this has on the Wolves other interests. How does this affect their ability to get a center & Hassell?</div> This potentially helps in signing Trenton because they weren't going to commit any part of the MLE to him until they inked THud. If they lost THud, they would've needed to use part of the MLE to sign a quality backup to Sam. We won't be able to get Trenton & a center with the MLE. It's strictly one or the other. We can, however, use Wally to trade for a big.
We better get somebody, the Kandi man is only good at getting teams to commit way to much money to him.
