The Wolves have acquired Chase Budinger in a trade with the Rockets in exchange for the 18th overall pick, according to sources. Houston has also included the draft rights to Lior Eliyahu. The Rockets now own the 14th, 16th and 18th picks in the first round. Read more: https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/217629980417462272
This should be a good addition to a team lacking any kind of talent at the SF. He will hopefully end up being a backup to Batum but will be able to play big minutes and be very effective if needed. Best part is that he can hit open shots.
He is better than the 18th pick for this team as we don't need another young player that could take a few years to find their place on the team. Budinger is a solid talent that is quite efficient which is more that you can say about most draft picks from the 18th pick on. We also obtained Lior Eliyahu, who could end up being a solid addition to the team in the future or a nice trade chip.
We had Wes Johnson playing most of the minutes at sf this past year. But I don't have to tell a Blazers fan who we hope to have starting at sf this year.
so wes johnson it is, i think yall would be better served going after ufas or maybe trying to swing a trade
lol... Obviously it's Portland prerogative if they want to match but it's obvious who we want and he would fit perfectly with Rubio. However it plays out, I'm fairly certain that we won't be starting Wes Johnson come the start of the season or at least I hope not.
yeah batums not going there...maybe if the wolves blow the blazers away with a sign and trade, but yeah, looks like wes johnson and chase buddinger are in charge of making sure kevin love doesnt demand a trade
Like I said, there are other options in the form of trades or ufas if it doesn't happen but obviously us as fans have no idea what will happen especially since an offer has not officially been made. Come the 11th, there will be some exciting moves for most teams though. Batum would be coming here though if it was up to him. That is the bad thing about rfas is that the team holding their rights can match anything. Similar to the Blazers having little to no chance at Hibbert.
http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=0&p1=batumni01&y1=2012&p2=budinch01&y2=2012 Check out the PER 36 minutes comparison. Budinger makes $854K, Batum got a $12.5M offer. Is he really worth that much more? Or is Budinger massively undervalued. I think a little of both.
I agree with a little of both. I think it is mostly the situation though as Budinger is set to be a free agent next year if we don't extend an offer. Batum was being held back by the style of play in Portland though, imo. I have a feeling that he will/would flourish playing alongside Rubio. Probably won't happen but it depends on if Portland thinks the offer is worth matching.
I think in the reality of the new CBA, a guy like Budinger has enormous value and a guy with a big contract who's a gamble can turn into a huge liability. Yeah, I think Batum could turn into something great, but he's a career 15 PER player who's had PER of 12.9, 14.8, and 17.3 in his full seasons. He is really young still, but it is a pretty big gamble.
When you are in the situation that the Wolves are in, you need to take those gambles. You know Batum is going to produce effectively but may not develop any further. Providing that he plays the way he has in the past few years, he is worth at least 7-9m. We are betting that he will be worth more than that. I am of the opinion that he could be a better overall player than say Rudy Gay who got the max in a similar rfa situation. Time will tell but I think it is worth the risk.
