NBA free agency rumors: Rudy Gay meeting with Oklahoma City Thunder

Small forward Rudy Gay will be meeting with teams in Austin, Texas during his free agency. One team that has interest in him is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

When small forward Rudy Gay opted out of the final year of his contract with the Sacramento Kings, it only signified that the swingman would not be returning to the Kings. His time in Sacramento was one of great turmoil and cut short by injury last spring.

Though he is coming off a ghastly Achilles injury, Gay has averaged 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in his 11-year NBA career out of UConn. One team that has been linked to Gay for some time now is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, “free agent Rudy Gay hosts meetings in Austin, Texas with interested suitors this weekend. OKC continues to be a team who sees fit.”

Since Kevin Durant left the Thunder last free agency, Oklahoma City has felt the need to upgrade at the three. Gay tends to be a ball-dominant, isolation player, but could theoretically do well playing next to MVP point guard Russell Westbrook.

Oklahoma City cannot expect Gay to be Durant, but if he is healthy, the Thunder can lean on him to score buckets in crunch time. Gay has been able to score since his arrival in the NBA back in 2006 with the Memphis Grizzlies.

While he had been on the trading block last season, that really came to an end when Gay got hurt. He only played in 30 games for the Kings, but did average 18.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Sacramento.

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There are sure to be other teams that will want Gay’s services as an unrestricted free agent. However, it does feel like Oklahoma City would be a great fit for both parties. Adding Gay doesn’t take the Thunder over the top, but will make them more balanced on the offensive end of the floor.