TULSA, OKLA. — Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders' main objective throughout this first preseason back on the bench simply calls for reaching the Oct. 29 season opener at Memphis with his team still in good health.

In an attempt to do so, he has sat out veterans such as Ricky Rubio, Mo Williams and J.J. Barea for a game in a balancing act that measures their need for rest with their need for work.

Then there's veteran forward Chase Budinger, who's walking an even narrower line between the two because of two knee injuries within 11 months that deprived him of training camp this time last year.

He didn't play the preseason opener at Indiana, then played 9 ½ minutes against Philadelphia the next game before he played 27 minutes off the bench in Friday's loss to Milwaukee in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Saunders singled out Budinger and Anthony Bennett for praise Friday after a loss that otherwise left him wanting. Budinger made five of nine shots from the field — including two of four three-pointers — and had three steals, three rebounds, two assists (and five fouls) while scoring 13 points in those 27 minutes.

"It felt good, most important the body felt good," Budinger said after Friday's game. "Training camp for me has been tougher just because I haven't had a training camp and a preseason in two-plus years. It's a process for me. There has been a lot of adjustment on my body and tonight it felt really good. The body is going to get aches and pains and you just have to work through it."

While he does, Yahoo! Sports last week reported the Wolves are trying to trade Budinger. Its report named Houston and Detroit while a Sporting News report added Portland as well. Saunders adamantly denied he is "shopping" Budinger.

"I don't really listen to rumors at all," Budinger said, laughing. "I've been around. They're rumors."

The Wolves have 16 players on their roster with guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts and must get down to 15 men by opening night.

Etc.

• Guard Kevin Martin and Shabazz Muhammad both practiced Saturday. Martin likely will play Sunday against Oklahoma City after he missed the first three preseason games because of a groin injury. Muhammad has missed the past two games because of a sore heel and probably won't play.

• Friday's game in Cedar Rapids brought Saunders back to the arena where he once coached visiting Continental Basketball Association teams. Sunday's game against the Thunder in Tulsa is something of a homecoming: Saunders was an assistant coach with the University of Tulsa in the mid-1980s before he went on to coach CBA teams in Rapid City, S.D., La Crosse, Wis., and Sioux Falls, S.D.