Rudy Gay

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Would love to see us make a play for him this off season, assuming he declines his player option with the Kings, thus making him an unrestricted free agent.

Here is the hitch - we would have to sell him on being our 6th man. I would like to hope that with the right contract length and security, he'd be willing to do this at this stage in his career. Gay has always been a neutral/league average type starter in my opinion. Part of the problem is that he's always been a mediocre 2nd scoring option and he simply isn't efficient enough offensively to justify that role on a top level team. But off the bench against weaker 2nd units - and in some cases finishing games as a small ball 4 - I think he could be more impactful on both sides of the ball.

Think of it this way. He would essentially be replacing all of Bazz's minutes and probably some of Bjelly's too. To me, that would give our bench a huge boost.

Any takers?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

There are a lot of things to like about Gay, but I don't like the idea of pursuing him (or any other higher priced free agent) this summer unless Thibs has given up on one of the big 3. Gay will command a nice contract, and as we've demonstrated here a few times, there simply isn't room in 2-3 years for our big 3 plus another high-priced player without going significantly into luxury tax land...and I don't see them doing that. So I look at it this way: Does Gay make us better if it means losing one of your big 3...I think the answer is no.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

For me, it would depend on how much his next contract would be. Three-years, $45M is as high as I would offer, but I'd obviously feel more comfortable with a lesser figure. I think he would be an absolute force off the bench at SF and some PF. We'd also have him as insurance should something unfortunate happen to LaVine or Wiggins, which is nice.

The bigger problem is I don't know if Gay is ready to make that kind of change in his career. Still 30-years old and productive.

[bleedspeed]

Not if it costs us any of the big 3. I think he would have a place on this team for sure as a 6th man. I think this team would be better with him on it then Rubio. Let Dunn and Jones be PG's and Gay be the bench force.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

For me, it would depend on how much his next contract would be. Three-years, $45M is as high as I would offer, but I'd obviously feel more comfortable with a lesser figure. I think he would be an absolute force off the bench at SF and some PF. We'd also have him as insurance should something unfortunate happen to LaVine or Wiggins, which is nice.

The bigger problem is I don't know if Gay is ready to make that kind of change in his career. Still 30-years old and productive.

Right, that's the hitch I mentioned. But I wonder how many teams are willing to give him a big contract to come in and be a starter for them? He hasn't moved the needle in that kind of role for multiple teams now (he was on a solid Memphis team, but they didn't skip a beat after he left town, implying that he wasn't really much of a difference maker to them).

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

For me, it would depend on how much his next contract would be. Three-years, $45M is as high as I would offer, but I'd obviously feel more comfortable with a lesser figure. I think he would be an absolute force off the bench at SF and some PF. We'd also have him as insurance should something unfortunate happen to LaVine or Wiggins, which is nice.

The bigger problem is I don't know if Gay is ready to make that kind of change in his career. Still 30-years old and productive.

Right, that's the hitch I mentioned. But I wonder how many teams are willing to give him a big contract to come in and be a starter for them? He hasn't moved the needle in that kind of role for multiple teams now (he was on a solid Memphis team, but they didn't skip a beat after he left town, implying that he wasn't really much of a difference maker to them).

I know Oklahoma City is one team to watch on the Rudy Gay front. They've been linked to him all season long.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

For me, it would depend on how much his next contract would be. Three-years, $45M is as high as I would offer, but I'd obviously feel more comfortable with a lesser figure. I think he would be an absolute force off the bench at SF and some PF. We'd also have him as insurance should something unfortunate happen to LaVine or Wiggins, which is nice.

The bigger problem is I don't know if Gay is ready to make that kind of change in his career. Still 30-years old and productive.

Right, that's the hitch I mentioned. But I wonder how many teams are willing to give him a big contract to come in and be a starter for them? He hasn't moved the needle in that kind of role for multiple teams now (he was on a solid Memphis team, but they didn't skip a beat after he left town, implying that he wasn't really much of a difference maker to them).

I know Oklahoma City is one team to watch on the Rudy Gay front. They've been linked to him all season long.

Well, that might be the one team he makes sense for as a starter since Westbrook is essentially their #1, #2, and #3 option on offense right now and they have some great role players. But they still have to deal with him this off season and I wonder if they are willing to sign him to a longer term deal vs. renting him for the rest of this season in order to make some noise in the playoffs.

[Duke13]

I was going to say the same thing Bleed, why not try and trade Rubio for him right now. If they say no, which I think is a possibility it would be an indication of Rubio's value.

But think it would make us immediately better. He would be a great scoring threat off the bench and a guy who could play heavy minutes to close games with the starters as a 3 or 4. If he plays the 3 you just move Zach to the point. His shooting and rebounding would help a lot.

We haven't won with Rubio, why not do this deal. We have Rubio's potential replacement on the rosters. Let's see him play.

[Monster]

I was going to say the same thing Bleed, why not try and trade Rubio for him right now. If they say no, which I think is a possibility it would be an indication of Rubio's value.

But think it would make us immediately better. He would be a great scoring threat off the bench and a guy who could play heavy minutes to close games with the starters as a 3 or 4. If he plays the 3 you just move Zach to the point. His shooting and rebounding would help a lot.

We haven't won with Rubio, why not do this deal. We have Rubio's potential replacement on the rosters. Let's see him play.

Rudy Gay is an expiring. Rubio still has value to this team at this point and he has been playing well.

I think there will be some teams willing to pony up some hefty offers for Gay and like Can pointed out OKC would make sense. I don't have a good read on Gay but maybe he would have interest in being a part of a team that is doing something special and take a nice but more reasonable contract to win. It feels like right now there will be other teams that fit that description more than the Wolves this offseason like the before mentioned OKC. I'm not a fan of Gay but yeah he sure would be a big improvement as a rotation player for this team. I think this team needs to either draft or sign an undervalued combo forward instead of pay a big chunk of money for Gay. I'm not totally against signing him I totally get what Q is saying bringing him up with this thread.

[Duke13]

I get he's an expiring. I'd be willing to gamble. Let say you trade him for Rubio and he doesn't resign you then have that money to spend elsewhere. I don't know, Sacromento has been rumored to have interest in Rubio so it makes sense as far as that's concerned. Not saying it will happen or there aren't better options for Gay but I see it making some sense for both teams.