NBA Rumors: Rudy Gay opts out of final year with the Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings’ Rudy Gay has informed the team that he will opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent.

Rudy Gay’s frustration with the Sacramento Kings’ organization is not secret. He has made it clear in the past that he does not like playing for the Kings, and even once went as far as saying that the organization was “basketball hell.”

Well, on Monday, Gay declined his $14.3M player option for the 2017-18 season, and will now become an unrestricted free agent and have the freedom to pick where he will play next.

Back in the September of 2016, Gay had informed the Kings that he was going to opt out of his final year of his contract to become a free agent in the offseason and told them he planned on signing with a different team.

During Gay’s time with the Kings, the team has never been able to win more than 35 games per season, and (obviously) has never made it to the NBA Playoffs. Though his performance with the team has not been bad, they have made poor decisions (making bad trades, not communicating with players, etc.) and thus, are not winning. This is the main issue that Gay has with the team, as reported by The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski last year.

Back in January, Gay injured his Achilles tendon and was out the majority of the 2016-17 season. He played 30 games with the Kings and averaged 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals.

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Though Gay is injury prone (hasn’t played a full season since 2009-10), the 30-year-old (soon to be 31) is a skilled veteran player who can contribute to teams with his scoring (albeit inconsistent), rebounding and defense.

Gay has career averages of 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.