Rudy Gay has transitioned from a top-flight scorer to a veteran mentor ready to take on whatever role is best for the team. The combo forward has been particularly helpful with the Spurs‘ young prospects.
“He’s a very outgoing individual,” coach Gregg Popovich said (via Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News). “He’s an easy teammate to be with, so he makes people feel comfortable. For young guys just starting out like Lonnie [Walker], it’s important to see the vets and be able to sit down and have a meal with them and laugh. [Gay] does that well.”
Gay appreciates how the organization has treated him and his family, and likes the city of San Antonio, Orsborn writes. Gay will be a free agent this offseason, but both he and the Spurs have a mutual interest in a new deal.
“We are hoping we can figure out a way to keep him here,” Popovich said.
San Antonio has a reputation for cohesiveness even as the franchise shuffles its roster. Gay said he has never experienced a unit as close as this year’s Spurs team.
“We had a lot of new pieces, played through a lot of adversity, the media saying we weren’t going to the playoffs,” he said. “We played through a lot. That forced us to be a tight team.”
It read like a goodbye article. I guess DeRozan will be a fulltime 3, time to change his designation. Bas.ref. says he spent 75% of his PT there, and that Gay spent 69% at the 4, so that was no gimmick lineup. LMA was 95% a center, so Pops got 2 stars to play a position they said they didn’t want to! Also I doubt Gay wants to be a 4, but if that’s where the money is…
Aldridge primarily played PF, except when they went small ball. DeRozen also played a decent portion of his time at PG.
I’m going by Bas.Ref. in their “play-by-play chart, where Derozan does not show any PG time. They must go by the defensive assignment, not what they’re doing on offense. So I will believe both of you! I mostly watch White & Bertans on the Spurs and was surprised by those numbers. Not surprised that Bertans has their highest on/off!
I don’t think Rudy has an issue playing the four. In today’s small ball NBA it’s a good fit for him.
I love the Spurs loyalty and continuity, but it played better when they were a title contender. With this current group, and Murray returning, I see the ceiling as a 50 win team and a second round defeat. Please don’t re-sign Gay, focus on the future instead.
pops got everything possible from this group, spurs need another chip