MEM shopping Rudy Gay (Raps interested, PHX in lead? P. 32)

[Rhettmatic]

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... ll-he-land

Lowe says that Gay has been made available for trade.

All of this explains why Memphis, over the last few weeks, has made it known in preliminary talks with other teams that Rudy Gay could be available via trade, according to sources around the league.

The Raptors included among "sensible candidates" for Gay, should he be dealt.

Boy, have injuries complicated things for a team that has long kicked around the idea of acquiring Gay. Jose Calderon won Kyle Lowry’s starting job when Lowry got hurt, and Calderon’s expiring $11 million deal is an easy fit in almost any 2013 mega-trade — even if the Grizzlies already have Mike Conley logging heavy time at Calderon’s position. Andrea Bargnani isn’t a fit in Memphis, but injuries to Bargnani and Jonas Valanciunas have made dealing one of the Amir Johnson/Ed Davis duo a bit dicier.

Still: It’s easy to build a number of deals that get Memphis under the tax around Calderon and spare parts on either side. Whether Gay fits next to another non-shooter in DeMar DeRozan is a fair question, but the Raptors might be in that Milwaukee boat — unlikely to land a can’t-miss foundational star in free agency, and so willing to roll the dice on a “B� guy via trade.

This also might be the ultimate litmus test for Memphis: If a Calderon-centric deal is ultimately the best one they can find ahead of the trade deadline, do they just keep Gay and try to slough off $4 million elsewhere — or just swallow hard and pay the tax?

The latest:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--suns- ... nM-;_ylv=3

The Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns are engaged in trade talks centered on forward Rudy Gay, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Grizzlies have been shopping Gay to multiple teams, and found an interested trade partner with the Suns, sources said.

There's no framework of a possible deal in place, but the Grizzlies have expressed a strong desire that any package involving Gay include Suns forward Jared Dudley and future first-round draft picks, sources said.

In an effort to avoid paying luxury tax in the short term, as well as get off the $16.8 million and $19.3 million owed Gay in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, new Memphis management has aggressively shopped Gay. The Grizzlies have made proposals on Gay to several teams, front-office sources told Yahoo! Sports.

[pspot]

Jose and Ross for Gay if the tax issue is that big of one for them
do the Raps do it?

[CreaM]

We better be in on this.

[Indeed]

I wonder what they are looking for. Calderon would be great for them, because he played with Gasol before, and he is an expiring. They are definitely not interested in Bargnani and his contract, and they may be more interested in our wings. Maybe a three way trade is possible as well if they can get back a SF.

[rapsfanhere]

Derozan and Caldy for Gay?

[lander]

Of course now that I hate this type of deal we suddenly become more likely to get him. Ross is growing on me and DeMar is now providing what Rudy is (this year) for a lot less $$$$ so no thanks.

[dTox]

I hope Lowry isn't involved in any Gay rumors (no pun intended), he's a superior player in my opinion than Gay and on a much better contract. If we are aquiring such a massive salary I'm hoping Andrea is either on his way out or amnestied.

[DG88]

Here we go again. I was all for Gay back in the summer but he's been pretty average this season and his contract is pretty ugly.

[dagger]

No matter what, we have to send some 2013-14 money with Jose in that scenario or we literally crash into the tax. Adding Gay's $17 million salary to our $59 million in obligations means puts us deep into taxed territory. Even amnestying Bargnani wouldn't totally solve that issue, since it wouldn't leave us much money under the tax line to sign a backup point guard, add a draft pick (if we have one) and keep Alan Anderson who will command more than his current minimum.

Gay is a terrible value deal. Frankly, he's worse than Bargnani. He just plays a position of need. Gay's last 10 games have been awful.

A fair deal, considering the amount of financial relief involved, would be Jose + Fields + Gray. That would give MEM $8 million in savings next season, and $11 million in 2014-15, and Fields would give them a smart, defensively minded SG/SF whose value rises with the quality of the teammmates he's playing with. It would leave us with enough cap space to fill out our roster. Alternatively, we could take Gray out of that deal, or substitute Kleiza for Fields, if MEM sends us a PG prospect like Wroten. That would increase cap savings for MEM in both years left on Gay's contract.

[Indeed]

I wouldn't mind taking on Bayless as well, but we definitely need to trade either Bargnani or DeRozan next season to free our cap space. Meanwhile, they probably want more than DeRozan or Ross, but not sure if I want to add Davis nor Amir. Maybe a protected 1st, but that's about it.

[dTox]

Here we go again. I was all for Gay back in the summer but he's been pretty average this season and his contract is pretty ugly.

Agreed, though I think he's a borderline allstar, he is no way worth that contract. I wouldn't even know who to trade for him as I think we are a bad trading partner with Memphis,. The players we are looking to move out (Calderon, Andrea, Kleiza), they have no interest in and are already stacked in each of those positions. A third team definitely needs to be involved.

[LLJ]

We really need a SF...but I don't know about giving up too much for this guy. He's clearly not a superstar, arguably not even a star, and basically closer to a slightly above average starter. And he mentions that Gay has a very similar offensive game to DD, so there is some question about how that would work in a starting lineup. In fact DH made a very good case last week that they're actually very similar type of players and DD is closing the gap too.

The pieces would have to only involve Jose and Bargnani, and any of our guys who are not a regular part of the rotation to make salaries work. I'd rather hold on to Ross for a better deal in the future if we do trade Ross. DD for Gay sounds a little redundant and starting Ross at SG is way premature.

I'm not willing to deal any bigs except Bargnani.

[pspot]

No matter what, we have to send some 2013-14 money with Jose in that scenario or we literally crash into the tax. Adding Gay's $17 million salary to our $59 million in obligations means puts us deep into taxed territory. Even amnestying Bargnani wouldn't totally solve that issue, since it wouldn't leave us much money under the tax line to sign a backup point guard, add a draft pick (if we have one) and keep Alan Anderson who will command more than his current minimum.

Gay is a terrible value deal. Frankly, he's worse than Bargnani. He just plays a position of need.

What about a three way with GS

TO get Gay and Biendrins
GS get Bargs
Mem get Jose and Rush

If Raps amnesty Kleiza how does that put them in terms of tax territory? that would be 24.6 out and 25.5 in

considering no 1st round pick and having to resign AA that would probably still be to tight

[Fairview4Life]

Rudy Gay has been Bargs this year on both ends, while being paid a lot more money.

[dTox]

Gay is a terrible value deal. Frankly, he's worse than Bargnani. He just plays a position of need.

Come on now, let's not get carried away. Andrea like you mentioned, is someone that could be considered an amnesty candidate, Gay on the other hand is the 3rd best player on a championship contender, its not even close. But I do agree that we don't need to add an overpaid player like Gay on this team, especially if we are ever aspiring to win a championship.