Just when you least expect it, the Brooklyn Nets strike again.
This time, they’ve signed forward Chase Budinger, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Free agent forward Chase Budinger has reached agreement on a deal with the Brooklyn Nets, league sources told @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 21, 2016
No further details have been named yet, but the Nets already had 15 guaranteed and 3 partially guaranteed contracts heading into next week’s training camp. Rumors burned yesterday after beat writers noticed Jorge Gutierrez, Kendall Marshall, and P.J. Hairston working out after Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson’s presser.
Budinger is a 6’7 forward that has bounced around the NBA since he was drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2009. After averaging a little over 9 points per game with the Rockets for three seasons, he was traded on draft night to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he promptly needed knee surgery and only appeared in 22 games in 2012-2013.
Aside from short stints with both the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns last season, Budinger’s career has yet to take off. Budinger was a contestant in the 2012 Slam Dunk Contest, where his underrated vertical was on full display, but he’d eventually fall to the Utah Jazz’s Jeremy Evans.
Here’s video of that great contest on Vimeo.
Budinger averaged 3.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per contest in 17 games for the Suns last season.
We’ll update when more information emerges.
Adrian Wojnarowski — Twitter
