Nov 26, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward Rudy Gay (22) misses an attempted alley-oop against the Brooklyn Nets at Air Canada Centre. The Nets beat the Raptors 102-100. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
We’re still months away from the NBA trade deadline but that’s not stopping teams from making some swaps earlier in the year. We’ve already seen the Sacramento Kings make a move to acquire Minnesota Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams and it appears they’re on the move again. According to NBA guru Adrian Wojnarowski, the Kings have agreed on a trade that sends Toronto Raptors star Rudy Gay to Sacramento.
Raptors and Kings are near agreement on a deal centered on Rudy Gay, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 9, 2013
Moments later, Woj confirmed the trade on Twitter.
Rudy Gay is headed to the Kings, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. He has been pulled out of the Raptors lineup for tonight.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 9, 2013
Sacramento will send John Salmons, Vasquez, Patterson and Hayes to the Raptors, sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 9, 2013
Along with Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray will be traded to the Kings too, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 9, 2013
The move is the biggest trade of the year so far and comes as a bit of a surprise to Raptors fans who were just getting used to Gay on their team. Last year the Raptors made a deal to land Gay from the Memphis Grizzlies, and now less than a full calendar year later they are moving him off their roster.
Sacramento has been somewhat of a wonder to watch lately from a behind-the-scenes perspective. After nearly being sold to Seattle to become the Sonics, the Kings now seem ready to show the fans that fought to keep them in Sacramento how serious they are about being contenders.
Landing Gay, to pairing it with the amazing Derrick Williams trade, shows fans that the team wants to win and that they didn’t fight to keep them for nothing.
