"When it comes down to it, it's all about winning, and however you get the win. "Honestly, how I view it, a computer can't tell talent, it just can't," Gay told NBA.com. The Grizzlies' move was validated and now it's Gay who is ready to respond. As it turns out, the Grizzlies were better without Gay and got further into the playoffs than ever before. The response to that became a sort of Gay backlash. When statheads took over the Grizzlies' front office and then jettisoned Gay to Toronto in midseason, one of the biggest basketball writers on the planet accused Memphis of choosing money over wins.
The reason Gay is at the forefront is two-fold: he makes superstar money and Memphis traded him in the middle of a title run. This debate is not singular or even infrequent: we make the judgments on just about every other player. Those more in tune with advanced stats would disagree. Gay and his backers say he provides a lot of value, maybe an All-Star level of value.
(There's also the matter of "advanced stats" not being a single number or set of numbers.)Īll we're really quibbling about is how much value Gay provides. Many advanced stats would place Gay as an above-average player, a good starter. But folks assume that because Gay is not an advanced stats darling, the advanced stats believe him to be a scrub. He's got talent, size and skills in varying levels. That framing has made this a problem because Gay can clearly play basketball. Just because data-driven analysis indicates he's nowhere near as valuable as the "stars" of the game, that doesn't mean the computer believes he has no value. One of the things totally ignored most of the time when Gay is the subject is that even advanced stats find value in his game.
The computer takes input and spits out results. If it had the capacity for compassion, it wouldn't owe Gay an apology, because "the computer" has done nothing to Gay. While giving up Rudy Gay isn’t the easiest decision, it would make a lot of sense for them when thinking about the future.Look, this isn't a Terminator movie. In the meantime, though, the Kings could have veterans Omri Casspi and Matt Barnes (the team’s two remaining small-forwards). Sacramento added the veteran Barnes this offseason, which could be a sign the team has prepared to get rid of Rudy Gay.Īgain, the Kings need to virtually start over and this would be a step in the right direction for them. Bogdanovic was selected 31st overall in the 2011 draft and has potential, which would intrigue the Kings. If the Nets were to trade Bogdanović and a second-round pick for Gay, it would give the Kings a young small-forward to potentially replace Gay’s position in the long run. If they deal does turn out well for Brooklyn, then Gay could re-sign with the team and they would still have cap space.
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If the deal doesn’t work out, the Nets will still have salary cap flexibility in free agency. The salary cap will continue to rise, and Gay has a player option for $14.2 million in 2017-18. It would make the most sense for the Nets to only offer Bojan Bogdanović and a second-round pick. Of course though, to acquire Gay, the Nets need to give something up in return. Rondo left and signed with Chicago, and now, the Kings are reportedly shopping Rudy Gay.įrom the Nets perspective, going after Gay is a no-brainer. Whether they want to hear it or not, the Kings need to start over and build their team around Cousins (which so far, based on their draft, isn’t working out too well). Point blank, the Nets just need more talent and need a different group of players on the floor. They were 26 th in the league in points for, and 24 th in the league in points against. They posted a disappointing record of 21-61 and for the most part, struggled on both sides of the ball. The Nets, on the other hand, just simply couldn’t get anything going with lack of unity and talent. The talent may be there on paper, but clearly the team is lacking chemistry and identity, as that talent did not transfer into wins. However, they still missed the playoffs by eight games, extending their postseason drought to 10 years (the second-longest active drought in the NBA). Last year, the Kings’ nucleus of players included DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Darren Collison, and Rudy Gay.