Wolves’ Budinger hopes to play

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — It’s been an agonizing season for Chase Budinger, rehabbing a knee injury in Minnesota while watching his Timberwolves teammates miss open jumper after open jumper without him.

He’s longed for the day when he can get back out on the court and help them with his shooting and his movement without the ball, two things the injury-plagued Wolves are sorely missing. It appears that after almost five months, Budinger’s wait is nearly over.

Budinger practiced five-on-five on Wednesday for the first time since he tore the meniscus in his left knee in January. If his knee responds well on Thursday morning, the versatile forward plans to play that night in Sacramento.

“I just want to be playing again,” Budinger said. “This season has been very frustrating for me personally because I haven’t experienced anything like this before. Just sitting out all year, it’s been tough. It’s been mentally draining. Knowing that the summer is coming up, I just want to be out there to play these final games.”

Tags: sports, wolves, nba