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REGRADING RUDY GAY TRADE FREE
It’s a devastating blow for Gay, who was having a solid year and likely headed into free agency in July. Gay holds a $14.263 million player option on the 2017-18 season of his contract and was expected to decline that option to consummate a new free agent deal in July. It’s possible Gay still considers the free agent market, though, and there is some history of new deals coming off an Achilles tear. Wesley Matthews of the Dallas Mavericks, for example, signed a huge $72 million deal with the team, fresh off a similar injury. However, the likelihood of Gay being far enough along in the rehab process in July to garner a new deal may be low. Gay’s injury not only impacts this season, but it will also likely impact next season for the Kings, too.By Dec. 8, 2013, the Raptors had won just six of their first 18 games. Acknowledging the fact that Gay was a poor fit alongside DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, Ujiri sent him and the $37 million remaining on his contract to the Kings. It was, by all common logic, a tank move. The 2014 draft class was a promising one, headlined by Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid. Toronto Raptors receive: Grievis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes Sacramento Kings receive: Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray While the Raps were intent on staying competitive post-trade, those looked like tantalizing consolation prizes.īut sometimes you have to get lucky to win, and by unloading a star-level player (or close to it) in Gay and two peripheral pieces for four role players, the Raptors set an unknowing course for the most prosperous period in franchise history. Looking at those names, Gay’s stands out like Al Pacino in an Adam Sandler movie. It’s hard to believe that the four players the Raptors got in return would help form one of the NBA’s most effective bench units, let alone have an impact that would continue to be felt today. Let’s take a look at the repercussions of Ujiri’s Rudy Gay trade, then and now. Individually, virtually every player on the roster benefited. Terrence Ross averaged over 12 points per game and shot 40 per cent from deep after he was inserted into the starting lineup post-trade. DeRozan’s scoring numbers jumped from 18 points per game the previous season to over 22, gaining confidence from being anointed the Raps clear-cut go-to scorer. Patterson, a dangerous utility weapon, and Vasquez, the ultimate (in Bill Simmons parlance) “irrational confidence guy”, combined to average nearly 20 points per off the bench. Another newcomer, the veteran Hayes, almost instantly became a major voice in the locker room and de facto assistant coach. It was a dream run that culminated in a franchise-record 48 regular-season wins and the Raps first playoff birth in six seasons. In the wake of the Gay trade, the Raps had found their identity as a team, the fans reclaimed their voice- louder than it had ever been- and DeRozan and Lowry emerged as a bona fide one-two punch worth building a team around.
REGRADING RUDY GAY TRADE SERIES
They lost an intense seven-game series in the first-round vs. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and the Brooklyn Nets. But the message had been sent to the NBA: The Raptors were on the rise.