Report: Wolves unlikely to deal Martin, Young; Budinger could move

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With the Minnesota Timberwolves embracing a youth movement amid a developmental season, they appear to value the leadership of veterans in helping incubate their young talent.

On the surface, names like Thad Young and Kevin Martin don't quite fit on an 11-42 team with designs on the draft lottery and nine roster players that are 25 or younger. Both players have appreciable salaries for this season and beyond, and each takes up a heavy minutes load. 

But there's value in having those assets around to teach, set an example and potentially move at a later date.

As such, the Wolves are unlikely to move Young or Martin at Thursday's trade deadline, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

The Wolves surrendered a first-round pick for Young this offseason, when they believed they could compete in an injury-free, post-Kevin Love utopia. Young's ability to opt out of his $10-million salary for next season and leave Minnesota with nothing doesn't appear to worry the team, as it may assume Young wants to hit the market in the salary cap bonanza of 2016. 

The team has previously been reported to be open to moving Young, though, so it may just be that it's not getting the right offer.

Martin would be a tougher sell to teams, given he's owed $7.1 million next season and holds a $7.4-million option for 2016-17. Martin's a nice complementary offensive weapon, but he'll turn 34 during the final year of his deal and teams may be hesitant to eat into their 2016 cap space with Martin's salary.

As a result, Chase Budinger may surprisingly be the Wolves player most likely to be on the move, according to Wojnarowski. Teams are said to covet the floor-spacing he provides, but a $5-million player option for next season may limit the return Minnesota can expect.

The Wolves denied that they were looking to move Budinger ahead of the season, but his decreasing role in the rotation - he's averaging career lows of 14.9 minutes and 4.5 points - may have changed that stance. 

A 35.6 percent career 3-point shooter, the former U.S. Junior Olympic Under-18 Volleyball Tournament MVP has at least one skill that could convince a team to take on his 2015-16 salary at a low-asset cost.