Timberwolves forward Chase Budinger exercised his $5 million player option for next season Wednesday, even if he doesn't know whether he is part of the team's future plans or not.

Budinger's agent said the decision was made to file the necessary paperwork now rather than wait until nearer the NBA's July free-agency period to give both parties "flexibility." The decision guarantees Budinger his $5 million rather than risk whether he would fetch that much as an unrestricted free agent.

That player-option year dissuaded some teams for trading for him last year, although agent Kevin Bradbury said Budinger's late-season play showed his client is back to his old self after two surgeries within 11 months.

Playing mostly at power forward out of necessity late in the season, Budinger scored in double figures 16 times in his final 17 games and averaged 14.4 points in those games until he sprained an ankle in the season's second-to-last game.

He also shot 39.6 percent from three-point range in those 17 games.

"[Coach] Flip [Saunders] gave him great opportunity to prove he is 100 percent healthy and can play to the level he did prior to his injury," Bradbury said. "It gave Chase confidence he can play at that level if they decide to keep him."

JERRY ZGODA