Minnesota acquired Beno Udrih and cash from San Antonio for a top-57-protected 2008 second-round pick that never conveyed. The Timberwolves immediately waived Udrih and used the cash as part of their broader Juwan Howard buyout process, while the Spurs achieved the salary and luxury-tax relief they were seeking. Both clubs accomplished the transaction’s practical objective, so an even grade is more accurate than the prior Wolves Win result.
Minnesota acquired Beno Udrih and cash from San Antonio on October 29, 2007 for a heavily protected 2008 second-round pick. The Timberwolves immediately waived Udrih, who signed with Sacramento days later. That sequence makes the purpose clear: Minnesota was not trading for a point guard it intended to develop. The club was accepting Udrih’s contract in exchange for cash while it finalized its own roster and Juwan Howard buyout.
The outgoing second was protected through No. 57 and ultimately did not convey. Minnesota therefore surrendered no realized draft asset. Contemporary reporting said the cash from San Antonio helped the Timberwolves absorb costs connected to buying out Howard. The basketball return from Udrih was zero Minnesota games, but the financial return was real and the nominal pick cost never materialized.
The Spurs’ benefit was equally direct. Moving Udrih’s contract off the books helped San Antonio avoid a luxury-tax hit and cleared a roster obligation for a player who had fallen out of the regular rotation. The protected second never became an actual Spurs pick, so San Antonio did not receive draft value. Its return was the cap and tax savings created by paying Minnesota to take the contract.
Udrih became a productive starter after Sacramento signed him, but none of those Kings seasons belongs in the grade for Minnesota or San Antonio. The Wolves waived him immediately, and the Spurs had already chosen the financial benefit of moving his contract. A disciplined retrospective therefore judges the transaction on the cash, the non-conveyed pick and the salary relief actually created for the two teams in this trade.
Even Trade — Minnesota B, San Antonio B. The Timberwolves received cash, surrendered a protected second that never conveyed and used the transaction as part of a broader roster reset. The Spurs received no draft pick, but they achieved the salary and luxury-tax relief that motivated the deal. The prior Wolves Win / Spurs D grading treated a financial housekeeping trade like a player-value exchange; equal B grades better reflect what both teams actually obtained.