JULY 12TH: The Timberwolves have officially re-signed Budinger, the team announced today (Twitter link).
JULY 2ND: The Wolves have reached agreement on a deal with Chase Budinger that will keep him in Minnesota, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The deal will pay him $16MM across the next three seasons.
Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link) adds that the deal will include an opt out after the second season (2014/15). For what it's worth, Budinger told Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link) that a deal is "really, really close" but not finalized, though he could just be keeping things mum until it's all official.
We heard earlier this week that Budinger got a four-year offer from the Wolves, along with J.J. Redick. Budinger came to the Rockets roughly this time last year along with Lior Eliyahu and a 2012 first-round pick that turned out to be Terrence Jones. In his debut season for Minnesota, Budinger missed significant time with knee trouble but averaged 9.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 22 minutes per contest across 23 games.
The Wolves certainly weren't the only team in pursuit of the Arizona product and the Bucks were among the clubs making a serious run at him. The Pelicans, Pacers, and Mavericks were also said to have interest.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter) first reported that the two sides were nearing agreement on a pact. Budinger is represented by BDA Sports Management, as shown in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.