Grading the Rudy Gay trade: Who won and who lost?
By Ryan Donoho
The Toronto Raptors agreed to trade Rudy Gay on Sunday, and it has been the biggest trade of the season thus far. In every trade, there are winners and there are loses, and in some cases, it can even be a win-win. So who came out as the winner in this trade? We grade the trade here:
Toronto Raptors- A; Toronto received: Greivies Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson, Chuck Hayes:
Last season, Jerry Colangelo traded for Rudy Gay, and it seemed as if they wanted him to be their star. Well, Masai Uriji is the GM now, and he is married to no player. After trading Andrea Bargnani before the season, Uijri has moved Gay to the Kings, and he is now staring from the bottom. Moving Gay gives him flexibility, and he can now build the team the way he wants too. John Salmons, Greivies Vasquez, and Patrick Patterson are expiring deals, so that will give them cap space heading into the future. This deal is more about the future, but it could also help them make the playoffs this season. Gay was taking a lot of shots for the Raptors, and doing it inefficiently. Now, this will free up DeMar DeRozan, and the offense could see more ball movement–especially with Vasquez. Ultimately, the Raptors seem to be blowing it up for the future, and this is a good start.
Sacramento Kings- B; Sacramento received: Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy, Aaron Gray:
The Kings are tired of losing, and it seems as if they want to bring a winning team to pair with the new ownership. They traded for Derrick Williams, and now with Gay, they have talent. It will be up to Kings’ head coach Mike Malone to get it to work. This trade also means that they are all in on Isiah Thomas as their point guard, and they will now have Isiah Thomas, Derrick Williams, Rudy Gay, and DeMarcus Cousins. Gay has a player option worth 19 million dollars, and if he opts out, then the Kings just traded for an expiring deal, and that doesn’t make this a bad deal at all. They did give up their flexibility, and that could hurt them in the long run.
The Kings will now give more time to Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum, and they could see what they have with those guys. If they can get Gay to be more efficient, then this trade could be an A down the road. Ultimately, they didn’t get worse, but their ceiling is now higher. Quincy Acy is an interesting prospect as well.
If you think Gay is a good shooter, then explain this:
