What determines better? Because other than the Rudy Gay fantasy in which he is just a tad under the three elite SFs in the league instead of the glorified Jamaal Crawford type that he is I am not sure how to approach this. I have watched Gay's entire career and poster's here know I have teased them about Gay because of the trade but seriously, he has been the same player the last 5 years. It is not like he hasn't gotten shots or minutes. Not like he hasn't played on very bad and very good teams. He has played for player coaches and discipline coaches. He has been the same low impact player since college.
Hollinger won't want Hollins back anyway. They are complete opposites and don't really respect each others view points. Hollins is old school, and believes in keeping a team together a long time, working on defense and relying on the eye ball test. He has been doing this a really long time and his team has been very solid over the last few years. Hollinger is an outsider, and it is very obvious that Hollins does not respect him. Hollinger has very limited actual basketball experience and there is a generational gap. It is clear where this is headed.
I think these are some of the core differences in beliefs between pro and anti Gay observers. Despite talent, athleticism, clutchness or whatever, Rudy Gay does not help a team win basketball games as much as guys like Prince/Davis. The first bold is an exceptionally baffling statement. All I can say is "NO HE FREAKING ISN'T" I don't care if Gay has a knack for hitting game winners. If a more efficient offense player was taking the shots he was taking throughout the game, the need for a game winning shot is gone and it is a comfortable win. Prince is hitting 43% of his 3s this year. 43%!!! Gay is taking 3 a game and hitting only 31%. Why are you taking 3 shots a game you only hit 31% of? Thats Jeremy Lin bad. That alone is a huge upgrade. Gays usage is 25% vs Prince's 18%, yet Prince gets just as many assists.
Press conference is on in 10 minutes on NBATV. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The @<a href="https://twitter.com/raptors">raptors</a> will introduce @<a href="https://twitter.com/rudygay22">rudygay22</a> at 12:30pm/et... See the press conference LIVE on @<a href="https://twitter.com/nbatv">nbatv</a> & <a href="http://t.co/xl31hLWk" title="http://NBA.com">NBA.com</a>: <a href="http://t.co/twlmghg9" title="http://ow.ly/hkWNT">ow.ly/hkWNT</a></p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/297393899352236032">February 1, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
THe problem isn't his 3 point %, the problem is that his bread and butter pull up 16-23 footer that he unleashes 4 times a game (and the shot the Rockets generally avoid like the plague, by way of contrast) is only hitting at 34%. 30% of 3 > 34% of 2. That's why it's the worst shot in basketball. Even his close mid-ranger (10-15) is only hitting at 45%. 45% of 2 = 30% of 3 http://hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Rudy Gay
People are really underrating Prince here. Have seen him some and he looks like the same Prince that helped Detroit win a championship. He never really relied on athleticism but still has those freakishly long arms, can still score in a lot of situations. I think they will be just fine. Gay is one of those guys who can help you or hurt you. Prince is a guy who more often than not will help you and is proven guy who will help out deep in the playoffs.
Grizzlies despite what Hollins may or may not be thinking is a much better team because of this. They have so much more money to invest in free agency to add stronger depth to the bench.
The Grizzlies are idiots. Why even have a team if you're not serious about winning a title. This is the best team they had ever, going back to Vancouver. I'll never hate on SF3 for refusing to play for that organization. It was a salary dump, I know. But why does Memphis even bother with a team, and trade away their best scoring talent when they can actually make a run at the title. They're a solid team.
How much more money do they have to invest in free agency?? Do tell please?? As far as I can tell, they're still $4m over the cap. So have the same options they previously had (exceptions).
keep in mind that the tax line is likely to go up. They should have 12-14 mil under tax. They'll be able to re-sign Tony Allen who's a free agent. They'll have a big ~7.5 mil trade exception from Gay trade (sign and trade?), midlevel, a bunch of other exceptions. They'll have some decisions to make (trade or re-sign Ed Davis?) but they have flexibility. I think the most likely scenario is they re-sign Tony Allen, add a Lou Williams / Jamaal Crawford type scorer off the bench and keep space for re-signing Ed Davis. Add T-Prince, and they are a much deeper team than they would've been by keeping Gay and probably losing Tony Allen.
