The Houston Rockets have traded Chase Budinger to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday in exchange for the 18th overall pick in Thursday's NBA Draft, according to multiple reports.
Rockets have dealt Chase Budinger to Minn for 18th pick, source said.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) June 26, 2012
The Houston Rockets have traded Chase Budinger to Minnesota for the #18 pick. Confirmed.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 26, 2012
Houston has also included the rights to Israeli Lior Eliyahu in the deal to Minnesota, a source said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 26, 2012
Budinger averaged 9.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in his first three years in the league, all spent with the Rockets. He played in the starting lineup for Houston to fill in for injured players, but spent most of his time as one of the more productive bench players on the team.
This news comes not long after reports of the Rockets making moves to lure Dwight Howard with multiple first round draft picks (and now possibly one later in the round, too).
Read more about the Rockets at The Dream Shake and SB Nation Houston.