That's the problem, I have the feeling his ego is too big to be a 6th man. He thinks of himself as a "team leader" type player. You're never going to win anything if Rudy Gay is a starter on your team.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/TradeGrades-131208/trade-grades-raps-shed-rudy-gay Trade grades: Raps shed Rudy Gay The Sacramento Kings reportedly send forward John Salmons, guard Greivis Vasquez, forward Patrick Patterson and center Chuck Hayes to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for forward Rudy Gay, center Aaron Gray and forward Quincy Acy. Sacramento: D While the Kings are dealing four players and getting three back, this trade is ultimately entirely about Rudy Gay and which Gay Sacramento is getting. Will it be the one who was overpaid but useful through 2011-12 or the version of the last two seasons who has shot too inefficiently for his ability to create shots to be valuable? Gay's player efficiency rating (PER) slipped from 17.8 in both 2010-11 and 2011-12 to 15.6 last season and 15.9 this year; by my wins above replacement system (WARP), he's rated below average thus far while collecting $17.9 million. His poor start is unlikely to last. Gay is struggling primarily because he's been unable to finish around the basket, making just 51.0 percent of his attempts at the rim, per NBA.com/Stats. Historically, Gay has made at least 60 percent of those shots, and the difference is likely a fluke this early in the season. Still, to get back where he was -- a volume scorer with average or worse efficiency -- Gay will have to be more accurate on long 2-pointers than he has been the last two seasons (or, better yet, cut down on taking them in the first place). To help facilitate that, the Kings apparently intend to use Gay alongside newly acquired Derrick Williams as something of a stretch 4, per Yahoo!'s Marc Spears. Gay was more effective as a part of small lineups early this season, posting a 17.4 PER at power forward as compared to 12.8 at small forward through Nov. 27, per 82games.com. And those lineups outscored opponents by 6.7 points per 48 minutes in that span, where lineups with Gay at the three were outscored. (The opposite trend held last season, though Gay was more effective after being traded from Memphis to Toronto.) With Isaiah Thomas moving into the starting lineup at point guard and either Ben McLemore or Marcus Thornton at shooting guard, the Kings should be able to put more outside shooting around Gay than he's had in either of his previous two stops. In that sense, this might be the best situation he's ever enjoyed. But adding Gay to the mix presents other issues for Sacramento. He'll have to share the ball with Thomas and Sacramento anchor DeMarcus Cousins, who have combined usage rates north of 60 percent of the team's possessions. As much as possible, Kings coach Mike Malone will want to stagger his rotation so just two of the three players are on the court together. There's also the crucial matter of Gay's $19.3 million player option for next season. If Gay opts in, the Kings are now committed to around $69 million in salary. Add in the salary of a surefire lottery pick and Sacramento will have to shed payroll in order to re-sign Thomas, a restricted free agent, while avoiding the luxury tax, projected at $75.7 million for 2014-15. The Kings surely aren't done dealing, but having to save money for 2014-15 will make that task more difficult. Assuming Gay opts in, Sacramento basically has the rest of this season and the next to evaluate how the current roster works together. Both Gay and Williams are signed through then, allowing the Kings the opportunity to retool either by trading their expiring contracts or clearing space under the salary cap. In the meantime, it's unclear how successful Sacramento can be. Though the Kings have been competitive recently, they remain miles away from playoff contention in the deep Western Conference. Sacramento is farther out of the eighth seed than the current No. 8 (Golden State) is from leading the conference. And while Gay might work better in California's capital, adding him doesn't solve the Kings' defensive woes or upgrade the team's outside shooting. So Sacramento will likely continue to tread water in the West, with less flexibility than it had before this deal. Toronto: A- The Raptors entered Sunday's game eighth in the East in point differential, so a playoff trip was a reasonable possibility had they kept things together. Still, the team's ceiling was lower than the Toronto temperature in December; this group of Raptors wasn't going anywhere, now or in the future. That made it inevitable that new GM Masai Ujiri would break his team up. In trading Gay, Ujiri has undone the last big move by his predecessor, Bryan Colangelo. The players Toronto got in return weren't as important as ensuring Gay's $19.3 million option wouldn't clutter the Raptors' cap next summer. This deal reduces that commitment to Hayes' $6 million salary and the $1 million guaranteed portion of Salmons' contract, enabling Toronto to clear approximately $17.5 million in cap space. This is only the start for the Raptors. Getting this trade done early will allow Ujiri to package Vasquez and Patterson as part of deals before the deadline. (Players acquired in trade can only be traded individually for two months, a restriction that will expire a little less than two weeks before the Feb. 20 deadline.) Both players should have some value as experienced starters in the final seasons of their contracts; whatever Toronto gets for them is a bonus on top of the cap relief the trade will provide. Point guard Kyle Lowry is another likely trade candidate, and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan might be on the move as well. On the court, this is the start of reorienting the Raptors with second-year center Jonas Valanciunas as the focal point. Valanciunas has struggled alongside the perimeter group of DeRozan, Gay and Lowry, all of whom tend to dominate the basketball rather than looking to the post. Vasquez should be a more effective pick-and-roll partner for Valanciunas as long as he's in Toronto. The only thing not to like about this trade is the Raptors taking on some salary for next season. A deal that completely cleared the cap would have merited an A+. This version still earns far better than a passing grade.
Good move by Ujiri. Helped Denver rid of Melo, and now Gay for Toronto. Maybe Raptors have some hope after all.
Yeah, and Newark is very close to New York City, but I'm not going to say that Newark is full of Hedge Fund Billionaires.
Once again a team trades Rudy Gay and then go on to win impressively. This time on the road in LA against a not-that-bad Lakers team. Raptors must already be complaining about the possibility of winning too much following this trade.
I'm not going to lie....I would lose my sh** if we got the Chuck wagon back. I love that player more then any current player we have. So much heart.
Kings are either still stupid, or plan to flip him. What if they traded Rudy + filler for Amare, Shumpert, and Hardaway? Knicks just might hit that. And I like it for the Kings.
oh god I can see McHale not starting Lowry just to troll him and Lowry pouting so hard the world implodes
Ryan Wolstat: Would expect a Lowry trade to come in next few weeks. Someone needs to be cut before that though. Augustin most likely Twitter @WolstatSun
Why would you take a worse player just because the better player didn't get along with McHale 2 seasons ago? Also, this whole scenario makes no sense. Toronto is rebuilding/tanking. They may or may not want Asik and Lin and they are certainly not gonna give up 2 draft picks. The salary also doesn't match and the deal makes the Rockets less talented.
Tonight's TOR-LAL game proves that Kobe and Rudy are cancers. Subtraction by addition vs. addition by subtraction. Here's the part I don't quite get: Sacramento's owner is Vivek Ranadive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Ranadivé) who made his fortune in the high tech/computer industry. He would seem to be the kind of guy who would recognize all the data showing that Rudy Gay just has not been a very good basketball player-- not a horrible one, but not one who is close to justifying his salary. So, what does he see in Rudy Gay? Perhaps a Monta Ellis in Dallas type salvage project? The Kings roster really does not have enough talent to win or the trade assets with which to acquire more talent (other than guys they actually want to, and need to, keep). Rudy Gay does have physical talent, which might be harnessed in the right situation and allow him to become more efficient. And the price for getting him is small-- several players that probably won't be a part of the long term future. Kind of like what they did with the Derrick Williams trade, only Rudy makes more money-- and to the extent that this effects their ability to bring back Isaiah Thomas next season, I am not sure it's totally worth it.
