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Breaking Down The Rudy Gay Trade

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RUDYKINGSBig news on a Sunday night. On the same day Kobe Bryant makes his return, the Toronto Raptors have agreed on a deal with the Sacramento Kings, sending small forward Rudy Gay, power forward Quincy Acy, and centre Aaron Gray for point guard Greivis Vasquez, guard/forward John Salmons, power forward Patrick Patterson, and centre/forward Chuck Hayes. After less than a year, the Rudy Gay era is over.

Gay has been traded to two different teams in the past 11 months, after being acquired by former president and general manger Bryan Colangelo from the Memphis Grizzlies. This trade was originally reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski on twitter.

For the most part, the reaction from Raptor fans to tonight’s quick and shocking trade has been a positive one. Mostly because Rudy’s time here in Toronto was full of inconsistency, poor shooting, and hope. That is, hope that never really panned out.

MASAIWe said Gay and DeMar DeRozan couldn’t co-exist, and now Masai Ujiri has pulled off what seems to be a necessary move.

Let’s break down the salaries. Rudy is currently being paid $17,888,932 this season, Quincy Acy is being paid $788,872, and Aaron Gray is being paid $2,690,875.

Patrick Patterson is being paid $3,105,302, Salmons is being paid $7,583,000, Vasquez is being paid $2,150,188, and Chuck Hayes is being paid $5,722,500.

The Raps have sent away $21,368,679 in accumulated salary, and in return are receiving $18,560,990 from the Kings. Doing this incredibly hard math, the Raptors in this deal have already shed $2,807,689, and have a chance to shed more in the coming off-season.

The biggest factor in this deal was dumping Gay and his salary more than anything. Similar to Bargnani, the return wasn’t as important – clearing salary was the goal.The Raptors, depending upon the decisions they make in the off-season, could have a significant shed in their cap. 

Along with the $14.5 million off the books if Vasquez, Patterson, and Salmons are declined their options/offers, Lowry and Augustin also come off the books if neither are re-signed. This would lead to approximately +$20 million shed on the Raptors’ cap for the 2014 offseason.

 

Los Angeles Clippers v Sacramento KingsTo add, the Raptors now have a deeper rotation, along with vets, and some defined role players. Greivis Vasquez is the most talented player the Raps have received in this deal. His future, along with Kyle Lowry’s, is questionable. With that being said Vasquez is a very, very serviceable back-up PG. He’s a 6’5 point guard who can shoot the ball, push and control tempo, and is terrific in the pick-&-roll. The biggest beneficiaries of Vasquez? Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson. When you think about it, he shares many similarities to Jose Calderon (including defense), so there just might be a point guard controversy once again. Last season, Vasquez averaged around 14 points and 9 rebounds and is 26 years old.

PATRICKPatrick Patterson is a power forward who played with Kyle Lowry on the Houston Rockets, and he’s mostly known for his ability to work the offensive glass and screen setting. The Raptors liked Patterson in the 2010 draft, but opted to take Ed Davis instead, and Patterson went with the pick right after. Ironically, Davis was traded for Gay, and now the Raps have Patterson in a Gay deal. He’s only 24, so there is some upside here.

Chuck Hayes, Wesley Matthews, Marcus CambyChuck Hayes is known for his defensive abilities, despite being undersized at 6’6. His free throw form is pretty cool, too. There likely isn’t a rotation spot for him, but he will add a dynamic to the locker room and be a help to the young JV.

SALMONSJohn Salmons was close to signing with the Raptors a few years ago, so I guess things eventually come around. At this point in his career, he’s been unproductive. With Rudy gone, Fields, takes the main spot for now, with Novak  and Ross having more minutes. Salmons will have an opportunity to find a spot in an NBA rotation again, like he once had back with the Chicago Bulls. One thing to note though, the 33 year old can score. His best season had him averaging nearly 20 points per game.

What else does this mean for the rest of the team? Well, it makes DeMar DeRozan the clear number 1 guy offensively, and will be heavily evaluated. This now means DeRozan will have almost all the defensive attention paid to towards him, and Masai will determine if he’s going to be part of the future.

This also allows Kyle Lowry to handle the ball more and create the offense for his team. When Lowry is aggressive, he is at his very best. Additionally, this will result in more pick and rolls for the bigs, less shots from the “most inefficient spot in basketball” (the long 2) and more touches and minutes for Terrence Ross. The ball will move, and it will free up nearly 20 shots for the rest of the team.

The most important question is yet to be posed, though. Are the Toronto Raptors now on the tank? Well, we won’t know likely until around Wednesday, December 15th (where free agents signed in the recent off-season and rookies can be traded). The Raptors are likely as competitive as they were with Rudy Gay, if not more simply because of how bad he really was this year. Most of the media and others are speculating that whatever happens to Kyle Lowry in the recent weeks, will answer the question. At this point though, it’s all speculation.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sport
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sport

I personally think the Raptors came out fairly successful on this end of the deal. Dumping Rudy’s large contract, shedding nearly $20 million dollars off their cap, picking up solid young talent in Patterson, a good serviceable point guard in Vasquez, and veterans in John Salmons and Chuck Hayes will help this team going forward .

It became clear that Rudy wasn’t going to work. Either DeRozan or Gay had to go, tanking or not. The tandem had some serious potential, it’s unfortunate it never panned out.The fit simply wasn’t there, and it truly is disappointing.

The issue was partially the fact that the Raptors were never able to get the “next gear” from Rudy Gay, a level that he always had the potential to reach – the superstar level. Instead, the Raptors got a volume, inefficient shooter, who rarely gave 100%, and when he did, it was inconsistent. Additionally, his play style clashed with DeRozan’s, which caused some apparent offensive issues.

For Sacramento, getting a guy like Gay at this point was a buy-low move. They needed a dominant wing scorer, and considering Gay’s poor play may have been due to him and DeRozan’s inability to co-exist, there is a chance to rebound. It will be interesting to see how the DeMarcus Cousins-Gay tandem fares.

It’s time to say goodbye to the other Raptors going out. Aaron Gray was a big man who filled a role, and always did what he had too – nothing more, nothing less. We’ll definitely miss you and your humour, Air Gray.

Quincy Acy, a young man whose known as a hard worker, and a fan favourite in the T.Dot will be missed. He was drafted to this team with Terrence Ross in 2012, and his friend who came into the league with him was upset.

To conclude, the deal was fair for both sides for the most part. I wish the three departing Raps all the best, and I won’t be surprised if Gay finds his mojo in Sac-town. For the Raps, they did what was necessary, and I’m looking forward to watching the new pieces play.

Before you go, I present you a tweet that is probably hilarious to all those who wanted Rudy gone since the season started. Cheers.

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11 thoughts on “Breaking Down The Rudy Gay Trade”

  1. hopefully ross will get the start there now. All other options are horrendous (fields etc.) give t-ross the starting spot and let him grow.

    Reply
    • It’s tough to start Ross at 2 because DeRozan simply can’t play 3 at this point. Ross should still get significantly more minutes.

      Reply
  2. 6’6 Centre in Chuck Hayes…How can Casey pass up playing him in his small ball lineups. LOL. Good breakdown by the way.

    Reply

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