Remember when Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac said that he wouldn’t be trading Ben McLemore or Rudy Gay this season? Well, a little bit after that news came out, more Rudy Gay rumors started swirling. Rudy doesn’t want to return to the Kings, so a change of scenery might be best for both parties.
Rudy Gay has some value as a player that a desperate team might want to take a chance on. He can definitely create his own shot and score against just about anyone in the league but he’s a risk. He’s a ball stopper, not a great shooter, often a minus defender and his contract will expire at the end of this season, plus he’s 30.
Yet despite the obvious risks involved with acquiring Gay, it appears there are two playoff teams that might want to take a flyer on the wingman.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo! Sports recently had an episode of his podcast in which he spoke about the upcoming 2017 NBA free agency with The Vertical’s front office insider Bobby Marks.
At the 23:24 mark in the pod, Woj talks to Marks about the current situation concerning Gay.
Rudy would prefer to be moved at this point. That’s been made pretty clear to everyone in Sacramento. Find a home before free agency and either decides to re-sign with that team or get out on the market. Sacramento has talked with teams about him, they’ve been open to dialogue.
Oklahoma City (Thunder), Indiana (Pacers). There’s a lot of interest in Rudy.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe also shed some light on the Rudy Gay situation and also noted that the Thunder were looking at Rudy Gay.
The Kings may be the best bet to act early, since Gay politely told them he would very much like to leave. Keep an eye on the Thunder among potential Gay suitors.
As always with Rudy Gay, there comes the ‘our team will get worse’ factor. It’s hard to believe that a guy with so much skill has been to the playoffs only once in his NBA career. From the Grizzlies to the Raptors, the last two times he’s been traded, the team he left got better. Would that be the same situation with the Kings? Their fans can only hope so.
A lot depends on the haul Sacramento gets in return. In either scenario, whether it be the Pacers or Thunder, don’t expect there to be valuable draft picks or assets shipped in the deal. This might be a scenario where we wait until just about the trade deadline to see him shipped out of town. Much like what happened with a disgruntled Markieff Morris last season. But even then, the Suns got a first round pick in return. A protected pick that ended up working out in Phoenix’s favor, but a pick nonetheless.
