Rockets trade G/F Chase Budinger and rights to F Lior Eliyah to Timberwolves for No. 18 draft pick.

The trade is now official as the Rockets try to figure out what to do with the No. 14, 16 and 18 picks.

The Rockets have traded Chase Budinger to the Timberwolves for the No. 18 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

It's a really interesting deal for the Rockets. Houston now has picks No. 14, No. 16 and No. 18 in Thursday's draft, and it's clear that the team is loading up on assets to use in a potential trade. As for the Timberwolves, the team has now traded its first-round pick and has just Budinger to show for it. We can't say we're all that enamored with the return.

The Rockets are expected to pick up Chase Budinger's option for the 2012-13 season.

Budinger will play out next season for $942,000 and then become an unrestricted free agent. His stock took a hit this season as he fell behind Courtney Lee and Chandler Parsons on the depth chart for long stretches. Budinger ended up averaging 9.6 points while playing a meager 22.4 minutes per game.

Chase Budinger and Samuel Dalembert (back) are starting in Thursday's game against the Hornets, but beat writer Jonathan Feigen wrote that Greg Smith and Marcus Morris could "see more minutes."

This takes a bit of the fun out of Budinger and Dalembert's starting nods, so proceed with caution. As for the young guys, you'd have to be in a very deep league to take a chance like that.

Chase Budinger tied a season-high with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting (including four threes) with six rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes off the bench on Thursday.

Budinger has scored 14.4 points with 2.6 threes and 4.4 boards per game over his past five contests, making him well worth a look if you need help with the deep ball.

Chase Budinger scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting (including two threes) with four rebounds, two assists, and three steals in 29 minutes off the bench on Monday against the Blazers.

Budinger got some extra run with Chandler Parsons (two points, 0-for-7 FGs) going ice cold, and he is averaging just over 10 points with two threes and a steal per game over his last seven contests. If those numbers work for you give him a look, but things are only going to get harder with Kyle Lowry and (potentially) Kevin Martin returning down the road.

Chase Budinger hit three 3-point shots on Monday, scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting with three rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.

Budinger hasn't been on the fantasy radar with his 8.4 points per game and 36 percent field goal shooting over the past two weeks. If Kevin Martin (shoulder) stays out, though, he could be worth a look if you're trolling for threes and he gets hot.

Chase Budinger scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting (including three treys) with four rebounds and one assist in 21 minutes off the bench on Friday.

Budinger had to foul to get out of the game after taking a shot to the gut, but we haven't heard anything about a potential absence. He needs a few more nights like this before owners should pay him much attention in standard leagues.

Chase Budinger played 25 minutes on Tuesday, finishing with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and one 3-pointer on 2-of-7 shooting in a comeback win over the Lakers.

Budinger had gotten between 30 and 42 minutes in his previous three games, but Courtney Lee got hot and took over, along with Goran Dragic, tonight. Once Kevin Martin comes back from his shoulder injury, Budinger will likely take a hit and be a tough start in fantasy leagues.

Chase Budinger started at SF on Saturday with Chandler Parsons (illness) out of commission -- he scored 19 points with two 3-pointers, six rebounds and two steals in 42 minutes.

Budinger made 8-of-14 FGs in one of his best performances of the season. This line may inspire some owners to scoop him off the free agent heap, but he'll revert to an inconsistent bench player as soon as Parsons returns to health.

Chase Budinger had 10 points, nine rebounds, three steals, two 3-pointers and six turnovers on 4-of-9 shooting in 31 minutes on Wednesday.

Budinger is quietly averaging 13 points, 5.5 rebounds and two 3-pointers per game over his last five, and saw a boost by the hand injury suffered by starter Courtney Lee tonight.

Chase Budinger scored 10 points off the bench on Tuesday, hitting 4-of-9 shots (including two threes) with four rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes.

Budinger has been productive lately, but we're a bit disappointed in general with the effort as Kevin Martin (shoulder) was out. Just keep an eye on him as we enter the trade deadline and if things break well for him you'll hear about it.

Chase Budinger had 16 points, two 3-pointers, four rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes off the Rockets bench on Sunday.

This makes two consecutive strong games for Budinger, but we're not sold that his role will be stable enough for fantasy value. Kevin Martin only logged 16 minutes tonight, which isn't likely to continue very long, and Budinger has been unusually efficient during his hot streak (12-of-18 from the field). Just keep an eye on him, in case he somehow does carve out a 30-minute role.

Chase Budinger scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting on Saturday, including three 3-pointers, despite logging just 18 minutes off the bench.

The low playing time means Budinger will remain an unreliable option going forward, so don't read into this aberrant performance.

Chase Budinger took a DNP-CD on Friday and played just eight minutes on Sunday.

Coach Kevin McHale blamed size issues and defensive matchups for Budinger's lack of playing time. The swingman hasn't played more than 20 minutes in any of the last five games.

Chase Budinger, Iman Shumpert, Paul George and Derrick Williams will participate in the 2012 Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star weekend.

The slam dunk contest will be filled with athleticism, and Jeremy Lin has been invited to "assist" Shumpert a la Baron Davis to Blake Griffin last year. As always, the event will be an intriguing one to watch. However, there is a serious lack of star power in the event, and that may have an impact on the casual fan's choice to watch.

Chase Budinger came off the bench and had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and two 3-pointers in a team-high 32 minutes of Thursday's tough win at Phoenix.

He's scored 22, 16 and 12 points in his last three games, draining 10 3-pointers over that stretch. Kevin McHale is treating his bench like starters right now, Budinger included. The simple fact is that McHale's impossible to read and Budinger could keep playing heavy minutes, or revert back to the 21 he's averaging on the season. Eight players saw between 23 and 32 minutes, and that doesn't count Kevin Martin, who got just 13 minutes tonight. And if that keeps up, a heavy dose of inconsistency is coming for many of them at some point. Keep Budinger on your watch list for now, especially if he continues to lead the team in minutes.

Chase Budinger had a season-high 22 points along with four rebounds, two assists and four 3-pointers in Wednesday's win.

Kevin McHale played his bench heavy minutes and got the win, with a game against the Suns looming on Thursday. The move paid off, but we doubt Budinger is ready to do this again anytime soon. He played nine or less minutes in two of his previous four games, and as long as he's coming off the bench, will struggle to be consistent.

Chase Budinger scored 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting (including a three) with 10 rebounds and two assists in the Rockets' blowout win over the Suns on Friday.

Budinger had a nice two-game stretch before falling flat on his face with a nine-minute, zero-point outing on Wednesday. Given the blowout, we're going to advise owners to wait one more game before considering an add. Other reserves posting numbers include: Goran Dragic (10 points, three assists), Courtney Lee (12 points), Patrick Patterson (12 points, seven boards, one steal, two blocks).

Chase Budinger scored 13 points off the bench on Monday, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field (including a three) with four rebounds, four assists, and a steal in 21 minutes.

This is a nice follow up line to a two game stretch in which he averaged 20 points, five rebounds, and three treys. Coming off the bench with Chandler Parsons waning in the box score but playing great defense, Budinger is not a safe pickup in 12-team leagues -- but deserves consideration nonetheless.