It comes down to hubs. You will have to decide if your current hubs are a lot better than the hub in the cheap wheel; most likely it is. That would be the determining factor for me.

If I had a decent damaged front wheel, and was budget minded, I would look for a cheap used wheel that would get me by until I found a replacement rim and lace it to my existing hub.

I have always run matched wheels, but have no issue running an interim mis-match.

On the matched/mis-matched discussion. There is probably an argument to purposefully run mis-matched rims especially if different size tires are being used; front to back. It is readily accepted to have different spoke count, why not a narrower rim in front for a narrower tire.

John