Chase Budinger to Pacers: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The Indiana Pacers fortified their depth at shooting guard early in free agency by signing Monta Ellis and re-signing Rodney Stuckey, and they decided to do the same at small forward by acquiring Chase Budinger in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday for Damjan Rudez.

“We’re very glad to have Chase,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “He’s a guy we think will fit in our rotation. He can shoot and drive to the basket, which works with how we want to play. Damjan was a special guy. He was great to have as part of our team. He will be missed by all.”

Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News spoke to Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor about each side's motivation for making the deal:

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the trade on Saturday, and the T-Wolves confirmed it on Sunday.

Knee injuries have nagged Budinger over the past few years, but he finally found some good luck in the health department last season. All told, he appeared in 67 games (four starts)—his most since the 2010-11 season.

During that stretch, the 27-year-old averaged 6.8 points per game while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and a steady 36.4 percent from three-point range.

While Rudez is a strong outside shooter in his own right (40.6 percent from distance during his rookie season), the Pacers couldn't rely on the 29-year-old Croatian to do much more than knock down catch-and-shoot triples. According to SportVU player-tracking data, catch-and-shoot attempts accounted for 69.2 percent of his offensive production last season.

Budinger now joins a Pacers team that is seeking to push the pace with the help of smaller, more versatile lineups as Paul George acclimates to life at power forward.