Report: Cavs expected to contact Rudy Gay
The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to reach out to Rudy Gay.
Yesterday, Russell Williams of 247Sports mentioned that the Cleveland Cavaliers were expected to reach out free agent forward Rudy Gay about taking less to play with them. However, it’s unlikely will.
Was told before free agency the #Cavs would reach out to Rudy Gay about taking less to play here. But chances are unlikely he actually does.
— Russell Williams (@Russ_Will_) July 4, 2017
Gay averaged 18.7 points per game while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three-point range last season, having one of his best shooting seasons before tearing his Achilles in mid-January. While his recovery timetable was supposed to have him back on the court by the early part of the summer, per an official press release from Gay, he appeared on TMZSports and said he’s ahead of schedule in his recovery.
Even if Gay was willing to play in Cleveland and go after a ring, he has strong interest in playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
HoopsHype has strung together the timeline of his connection with the Thunder, which started in the 2016-2017 season when the Thunder expressed interest in pairing him with Russell Westbrook after Kevin Durant’s departure. Even though the Thunder traded for Paul George last week, who averaged 23.7 points per game last season while shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from three-point range, Gay still has interest in joining the new-look Thunder.
Westbrook, who won MVP for the 2016-2017 season, may have endeared himself to future free agents who see the camaraderie he has with his teammates. Add that to how hard plays every night, which players respect because they know how difficult it is to perform at Westbrook’s level on any night let alone constantly, and Westbrook has become the recruiting tool for the Thunder it hasn’t seemed like they’ve ever had.
LeBron James, who has been to seven straight NBA Finals (in part because the Eastern Conference doesn’t have as many upper-end teams as the Western Conference), is also a recruiting tool. He’s demonstrated a mastery of the game no other player has had and he’s taken Pat Riley’s blueprint and brought it over to Believeland.
However, if you look past Westbrook and James, you see a spot open for a Big Three member in only one place. Oklahoma City. That’s why despite the two teams having the same amount of cap space, Gay has more intrigue in playing there.
On the Rudy Gay front, hearing the Thunder are his preference, but there's a sizable gap on what OKC can offer and what Gay's looking for.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 4, 2017
ESPN’s Royce Young mentioned the salary Gay is looking for and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski mentions that a sign-and-trade with the Sacramento Kings (Gay’s former team) “remains difficult“. That could be because the most tradeable player the Thunder have in Enes Kanter doesn’t seem like a fit on the Kings, who have four young centers they’ve invested in (Willie Cauley-Stein, Harry Giles, Georgios Papagiannis and likely Skal Labissiere). Add in veterans like Zach Randolph and Kostas Koufos and though Kanter is a great scorer, it’s a hard sell for the Kings.
While the Cleveland Cavaliers would need to move salary to get below the tax apron before they attempt a sign-and-trade to avoid being hard-capped (by trading Iman Shumpert or Channing Frye to a team with the salary cap space to absorb their contract), they certainly have an asset the Kings would be interested in with Kevin Love.
I’m not saying trade Love for Gay. However, with the Cavs also having interest in Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, there could be a way to bring Anthony and Gay to the Cavs. With so many versatile forwards able to get buckets in one-one situations (in addition to Kyrie Irving), the Cavs would have a death lineup of their own. With the Warriors’ ability to lock down shooters on the perimeter and the defensive ability of Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson and now Kevin Durant, having multiple players who could get points against tough defense is a necessity.
In any case, while that may all be true, signing Gay could be just as difficult for the Cavs considering the complexities in completing a sign-and-trade and Gay’s preference for a bigger role within the offense.
Perhaps James could convince Gay to take a one-year, “prove it” deal and try to cash out next summer.