Rudy Gay being shopped

[bleedspeed]

I am not sure what the Kings expect back, but if they looked to dump him for say Payne and cap relief I would be inclined to take a long look at him. Could he be a starting PF at this point in his career?

Thoughts?

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3005/rudy-gay

[AbeVigodaLive]

Don't think Payne... a non-rotation guy and cap relief when everybody has cap space... is gonna get it done.

[bleedspeed]

Don't think Payne... a non-rotation guy and cap relief when everybody has cap space... is gonna get it done.

Then my question is would he be a fit at PF?

[60WinTim]

If Thibs was willing to throw money at Deng, it certainly seems possible he could have interest in Gay. But we have seen their restraint at overpaying for anyone, so I suspect the Kings would find a better price elsewhere.

Abe -- there are actually very few teams left with cap space...

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/

[AbeVigodaLive]

Don't think Payne... a non-rotation guy and cap relief when everybody has cap space... is gonna get it done.

Then my question is would he be a fit at PF?

He's done it before. In Toronto. With Team USA. And with Sacramento.

I assume a lot of it depends on the matchups.

[AbeVigodaLive]

If Thibs was willing to throw money at Deng, it certainly seems possible he could have interest in Gay. But we have seen their restraint at overpaying for anyone, so I suspect the Kings would find a better price elsewhere.

Abe -- there are actually very few teams left with cap space...

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/

That's fine. But what would they be using it on? Just swapping Gay for Payne opens up about $11M.

And Gay's contract is off the books after this season anyway, so they'll have it off the books soon enough. It's not like the contract is an albatross that's holding the team back. So why would they just dump him to dump him?

Obviously, they would want somebody with promise back. That's not Payne.

[petecorcoran [enjin:6658618]]

If Thibs was willing to throw money at Deng, it certainly seems possible he could have interest in Gay. But we have seen their restraint at overpaying for anyone, so I suspect the Kings would find a better price elsewhere.

Abe -- there are actually very few teams left with cap space...

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/

That's fine. But what would they be using it on? Just swapping Gay for Payne opens up about $11M.

And Gay's contract is off the books after this season anyway, so they'll have it off the books soon enough. It's not like the contract is an albatross that's holding the team back. So why would they just dump him to dump him?

Obviously, they would want somebody with promise back. That's not Payne.

There is no doubt that Gay has the talent to make teams better. But is he who we would need? I see several issues:

1. As a starter, Gay is primarily a scorer, not a defender. With KAT, Wigs and Lavine, I think we need a defender more than a scorer if he is to start at the 4.

2. If the thought is to have him as a scorer off the bench, what would be his attitude towards not starting, something he has done his whole career.

3. Who could we give back? I agree with Abe that the Kings would be looking at a prospect or a first round choice. We have no young prospects to trade and a first round choice might not come for three years (next year is already in play with Atlanta.)

4. If it's just a salary dump for a second round choice or Payne, what would Cousins think... could be one step forward and two back.

All in all, I just don't see it.

[Monster]

My thoughts:

Like Abe said there is no reason to just dump him. My guess is there are a couple reasons Gay is available

-He is a FA after this year. They are a young team and probably figure he isn't in their plans beyond this year so might as well move on.

-Maybe they want to try and send him to a good situation

-It's the Kings so who knows. There are tumors they want to move the bargain signing of last offseason Koufus. Why? Oh yeah they have like 35 centers. (Note that's fine to some extent if you think a guy is talented draft him and figure things out)

-He is basically a solid starter and some teams might be able to use him so maybe they can actually get something back for him. I would think at some point the market could hear up for him like at the trade deadline.

Ok so I've been about as hard on Rudy Gay as anyone. Notice every team he has left has gotten better after he left. I don't remember those teams getting anything significant back they just basically dumped him. Now when the Kings signed him to his last contract I said it was a pretty good value. That's still true. Gay is a legit NBA basketball player and like I said before he is a solid starter or good rotation player. However what exactly do you get with him?

Some scoring but not all that efficient. He is and ok 3 point shooter. He doesn't get to the line all that much. He should be a top level defender but he is probably ok maybe above average. If he played for a guy like Thibs he could possibly become more than that. He rebound solid for a SF. He brings some stuff but the thing is he just floats way too much doesn't impact the game like he should for a guy with all the talent he has ESPECIALLY physically.

Why would we want him here? He has talent and that's nice to get but I'm not exactly sure beyond having a more talented player he would really help much. I would much rather see Dieng start at PG. I would rather see Bazz get minutes than Gay and see what we have or don't have with him. It's not like Gay is some knock down 3 point shooter or something. Is Gay a better player than Bazz? Yeah but how big is the gap really? It seems we would have to give up something other than just cap space or the Kings should just keep him either to play him or for a better offer. It's always a mystery as to what the Kings are trying to do. It seems like they are always making weird moved to be competitive on one hand (like the Bucks used to do) and then dump other guys for absolutely nothing.

Like I have said for years on Rudy Gay I would pass even if it was just a cap space salary dump.

[JasonIsDaMan [enjin:7981157]]

Ok, a few things:
1. I don't think Rudy Hetero's parents spend as much time discussing him as this board does.
2. He IS NOT a free agent after this season. He has a $14.264m PLAYER option, and I don't care if the cap goes to a Billon, he is not walking away from that.
3. So let's say Pek can never play again. He had a surgery in April of 2015 that has a 9 to 15 month recovery time, which should make him ready....right about now. Ok. So all the "insiders" from the board here all know he is never playing again. Ok. That makes '17/'18 insurance eligible. Is Hetero's '17'18 eligible? Are you guys paying it? How about Jim Calhoun? The players from that George Mason team that beat Hetero in the '06 tournament? It's not like you can make up that money in jersey sales.

There is not one player on the Wolves I would trade for Hetero. Not even Pek for the reasons listed above, although it would be fun to see if Boogie's head exploded if they traded for another center. Every player the Wolves have is either better or (dramatically) cheaper (some are both). And once again, if the Wolves are winning TWO playoff rounds next year like some of you have said they are, shouldn't they go ahead and get somebody who has won two in his (10 year) career?

And for the last time: When a team "leaks" that a player is available, that means NO-ONE is calling. If someone called, they would trade him, call it a day, and hit the happy hour.

In four months, you're going to be in school and they'll be snow on the ground. Go outside and play kickball with your friends already.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I'm not entirely sure Gay doesn't walk from that deal.

He's probably going to want one more "big" multi-year contract right? The cap is still going to be big next season. I'm not sure about all the guys on the market he'd have to compete with... but wouldn't he garner more from that deal as a soon-to-be 31 year old rather than a soon-to-be-32 year old?

Especially with possible/probable changes to the CBA surely coming...?