The rudy gay trade
#The rudy gay trade upgrade#
While he was far from perfect, Rudy Gay instantly became the most talented Small Forward the Raptors had had in years and looked to be a significant talent upgrade despite being a less than ideal on-court fit with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.Īt the time though, the Raptors were just searching for an identity, while aiming to find any type of positive relevance in the NBA. Seriously though, what the heck Sacramento? I'm unimpressed by Vivek Ranadivé and the new ownership.January 30 th, 2013 was a day of mixed emotions for Toronto Raptors fans, as Bryan Colangelo contributed to a six player (and one draft pick) trade that brought Rudy Gay (and Hamed Haddadi) to Toronto. But also getting serviceable rotation players and major flexibility next season is another feather in Masai's cap. I'll say that simply dumping Gay would have been a win. And on the second count, I'd counter with the fact that the NBA's new CBA says that Ujiri can only abuse the Knicks once every season. However, on the first count, I'd argue that Gay and Melo aren't equivalent players Melo's an overrated scorer who's perceived as a star, but I think that most teams are onto the fact that Gay is not a very productive player. Raptors fans may be a little disappointed with this deal, because unlike the Anthony or Bargnani trades, Toronto wasn't able to acquire any game-changing pieces or major draft picks for Gay. As for Aaron Gray, I don't expect him to make a huge impact one way or the other. It's possible that Acy could be a hidden gem that turns the Kings' grade from an F to a D minus, but that's only if Acy sees any court time in Sacramento. Acy's minutes have been limited, but Toronto has been great at finding top big men and - until recently - watching them sit on the bench behind Bargnani. However, there is a little silver lining for the Kings, as they also picked up Quincy Acy. Royal Failureįor the Kings, getting Rudy Gay to play alongside Cousins and Williams is a terrible, terrible idea. As for this season, the deal actually adds $672,058 to Toronto's books. Ujiri has saved the Raptors $12.3 million in salary next season, assuming that Gay exercises his player option for $19.3 million over the summer (which is certainly not guaranteed: Gay may opt out in order to land a longer-term deal worth more total salary). It's highly likely that the Raptors plan on doing God's work and will hasten Salmon's departure from Toronto. Salmons has a $7 million deal for next year, but only $1 million of that is guaranteed. Hayes' contract is the only deal that extends beyond this season. The real reason this deal turns out to be a major winner for the Raptors is because of the salaries involved. Salmons can serve as Toronto's version of Tayshaun Prince: about as good, but much, much cheaper. And John Salmons hasn't been very productive over the last several years of his career, but then again, neither has Gay. Patrick Patterson is young and has shown some signs of being a decent player, but as a power forward, he probably won't see too much playing time. This definitely helps, as any time you upgrade your overall productivity, you win the trade, but neither player is likely to be a major win producer. Vasquez and Hayes both offer average production at the two most important positions. As for the players the Raps are getting back, they turned Rudy Gay into two solid - but not great - players.