Rudy Gay could become one of the most polarizing free agents of the 2014 class if he decides to turn down next season’s player option, worth more than $19.3MM, and hit the market this summer. The Grizzlies and Raptors reached new heights after unloading him, while the Kings have remained at the bottom of the Western Conference since acquiring the 6’8″ forward. Gay has nonetheless played much better in Sacramento, and his 48.4% shooting percentage in 50 games as a King would be a career high if extrapolated over a full season. Here’s the latest on the Octagon Sports client as a critical offseason looms:
- Gay tells Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com that he’s so uncertain about whether to exercise his player option that he can’t even identify what will factor into the decision. Still, Howard-Cooper gets the sense that Gay is leaning toward staying with the Kings, whether that means opting in or signing a new deal with the team. “I think I can have a future here for sure,” Gay said. “For sure. With the people we have in the front office, with the coaches, I definitely fit in here. It’s just when you get here, you’re set and you’re settled and everything’s blown over, when you have your contract and everything’s set, no matter where you are, it’s just where do we go from there? I’m looking forward to weighing my options.”
- The 27-year-old said to Howard-Cooper that he can envision himself continuing to play in a rebuilding situation, but he admits to Jonathan Santiago of Cowbell Kingdom that it’s not ideal. “At times it’s tough,” Gay said. “I’m not going to say it’s all peaches and cream because at times it’s tough. But you have to put yourself in a different mindset. Of course, if I was on a vet team, I’d probably be preparing for the playoffs. But since I’m here, I have to make these guys better.”
- His contract, not his inefficient play, is why the Grizzlies decided to trade Gay last year, as Lionel Hollins asserts to Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune.