CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chase Budinger was the first Pacers player dressed after Friday night’s loss. His locker was packed up, his sweatshirt was on. And he had nowhere to be.
Budinger was waived Saturday morning, as everyone involved knew he would be and as Sporting News first reported Thursday. But first, he played 12 minutes in a 108-101 loss to the Hornets. The awkward situation is the result of an injured Pacers team needing bodies before incoming point guard Ty Lawson can join the team.
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Budinger’s next step? “I have no idea,” he told Sporting News after the game. “I’m just going to go with the flow and have faith. That’s about it.”
In his seventh NBA season, Budinger went about his business as usual. He even helped make a difference off the bench for the Pacers, who are missing usual backup wing C.J. Miles because of a left calf injury. Budinger came through with a key fourth-quarter steal and played as All-Star small forward Paul George’s primary backup. He finished with two points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 12 minutes.
“Normal,” he said of what this game felt like. “Like any other game. Prepared the same way, went through shoot-around. Like any other game.”
Yet he could not directly address his situation — because nothing had happened yet. This is the tension created in a world of leaked reports, but it did not seem to faze Budinger.
“You see it a lot,” he said. “I’ve been around the NBA for long enough where, when you’ve been in locker rooms, you see situations like I’m in right now. You just have to be professional about it.”
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The next step appears to be, as Sporting News’ Sean Deveney reported, landing on a Western Conference team in need of injury relief. Because Budinger was waived after March 1, he will not be eligible to play in the postseason. Budinger has averaged 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game this season
The San Diego-area native did not seem unsettled. His career — one that first gained notice as co-MVP of the 2006 McDonald’s All-American Game alongside Kevin Durant — has taken a bizarre path shaped by injuries and teams replacing him with new talent. On to the next one.
