The Warriors and free agent forward Rudy Gay are in agreement on a one-year contract, agent Sam Permut tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Gay will compete in training camp for a spot on Golden State’s regular season roster.
Gay, 37, spent the last two seasons in Utah and exercised a player option to guarantee his $6.48MM salary for 2023/24. However, he was traded twice this offseason – first to Atlanta in the John Collins deal and then to Oklahoma City as part of a package for Patty Mills – and was subsequently waived by the Thunder, making him an unrestricted free agent in July.
A 17-year veteran who regularly averaged in the neighborhood of 20 points per game during stints in Memphis, Toronto, and Sacramento earlier in his career, Gay has seen his playing time and his production decline in recent seasons.
His 5.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 14.6 minutes per game in 56 appearances with the Jazz in 2022/23 were all career lows, as were his 38.0% field goal percentage and a 25.4% mark on three-point tries.
Still, Gay put up decent scoring numbers off the bench for several years prior to last season, so the Warriors – who were identified in July as one of several clubs to register interest in the forward and were rumored to be in the market for a wing – will take a flier on him this fall to see what he still has left in the tank.
Golden State currently has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts and a pair on two-way deals, so the club could technically carry three additional players into the regular season — two on standard contracts and one on a two-way pact. However, Gay is ineligible to be a two-way player and it’s unclear whether the Warriors intend to fill all 15 of their standard roster slots. Leaving the 15th spot open would give the Dubs more in-season flexibility and would help reduce their end-of-season luxury tax bill.
If the Warriors only carry 14 players on standard contracts to open the season and don’t trade or waive anyone with a guaranteed salary, Gay would have to beat out fellow veteran wing Rodney McGruder and any other camp invitees for that final spot.
The full terms of Gay’s one-year deal aren’t yet known, but it will be worth the veteran’s minimum, which is all Golden State can offer. We’ll have to wait to see whether it includes any guaranteed money.
Gay and McGrduer battle for the 14 spot will be interesting.
Interesting? One guy is way past his prime and coming off a poor season while the other guy has never been all that good. They are battling to be the last guy on the roster who rarely plays meaningful minutes. Really not that interesting.
Warriors building a retirement team
That approach didn’t work so well for the Lakers a couple of years back.
Especially on Defense.
Probably would have worked better had Russ not been part of that and his complete non-fit with the roster. Though the Warriors may have done the same with CP3, so we’ll see. Certainly a team with a lot of uncertainty now.
Better than last year for the warriors when there was no competition for a open spot. Gives Kerr some time to pick who is the best fit for the warriors. Last year there was some bad fits for the team in the second unit.
I dunno. I trust this Warriors team and all their role guys. A lot of high IQ guys here and that helps with bigger picture. They’re semi deep, but if the young guys step up, that’ll be huge
I have faith that the Warriors have one of the highest floors in the league. Not really in question. It’s the ceiling that’s the question. How far can they go with a weird fit and former hated enemy as the sixth man? Will the young guys step up? How will injuries affect them? Can they hold up against bigger teams with higher paint aggression, unlike last season? Will the defense bounce back? There are a ton of things to think about.
There is a lot of questions on CP3. Will he be a team player being a bench unit guy? Will age catch up to him? I got to believe he knows this is his last best chance to win a ring so he better be a team player.
Brooks will call the warriors “old”, and then will get a 3 swished in his pot marked face.
Love Rudy Gay. Good for him
I’m not a big Gay guy, to be honest.
I see what you did there…
So you are not happy? That is the old meaning of the word
McGruder is basically the next Kent Bazemore
An excellent pick up.
Come on man. Bucks just acquired Dame, warriors wanted to compete this year with that squad?! Come on man. Dunleavy sucks!
I’d take Howard over gay any day especially for a back up role.. we need height and wingspan. What are they doing!!! Oldest team in basketball!!
I’d rather have Juan Toscano-Anderson back. Younger, plays 100 percent at all times, and has won championships with this group of players
Rudy contract is not guaranteed so he needs to beat out JTA for the spot
I don’t think JTA will be in camp.
La ventana está Cerrada ……..
All you can look forward to is this year. Next year may never come.
Focus on the here and now and let the chips fall where they may.
How does the saying go? “Live for today and plan for tomorrow?”
Well the Warriors are living for today, especially since Curry is 35.
Warriors are not a serious contender; they are just a pretender. It’s a big yr for the Warriors in terms of marketing from the ownership to the players. They are all into selling tickets, clicks, selling shoes more than winning a title. It will be one ugly trade deadline.