RealGM

And he says that the Grizzlies would have won the series if he were healthy

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... g_Rudy_Gay


I'm not a Grizzly fan, I like the Knicks. But I 100% agree with the GM. It seems like people who don't know anything about the Grizzlies is saying that Rudy Gay is a cancer and a ballhog, and that he should be traded and that the team is better without him. Obviously that is wrong. Anyone could tell that the Grizzlies lacked players that could actually hit outside jumpshots consistently in the playoffs(other than OJ Mayo), and that made it harder for Gasol and Randolph. Rudy Gay is the perfect player to fix that issue.

IIRC Grizzlies were 17-3 with the lineup of

Mike Conley
Tony Allen
Rudy Gay
Zach Randolph
Marc Gasol

If Rudy Gay was still healthy, the Grizzlies would get to the NBA Finals. They would have beaten OKC, and the Grizzlies front line would have had the advantage over the Mavericks in points in the paint. The Mavs are too much of a streaky jumpshooting team.

You pretty much summed it up. Against OKC, just looking at the team's balance offensively, you knew they were missing Rudy's perimeter offense. And his rebounding ability (and defense) against the length of Durant/the Thunder would have helped a lot. Other than Gasol and Randolph we were outclassed physically.
I think other fans assume that Memphis fans only say that kind of thing (about playing with Rudy) to make themselves feel better about the coming season. I don't remember the exact link or quote, but Hollinger basically showed statistically that Memphis was way better with Rudy and TA playing a bunch of minutes than any other rotation.

The Owner has said that he wants to keep OJ Mayo and Shane Battier too. He wants to keep everybody. It seems like the team is willing to spend the money for the team to stay competitive.

The Grizzlies tried to deal Mayo to Indiana at the trade deadline so it’s natural to speculate that they might think about dealing him again.

The Grizzlies tried to deal Mayo to Indiana at the trade deadline so it’s natural to speculate that they might think about dealing him again.
Heisley wouldn’t rule out a trade, but he said he’d need to be convinced.

“I was the one guy who didn’t think we should trade O.J. before,” he said. “The reason we finally made the trade, in defense of Chris (Wallace), is that we had a lot more players at the guard position and not as many at the bigger positions. But do I want O.J. back? I want the whole team back. But if someone was going to tell me I could have LeBron James for Rudy Gay, I’d have to make that trade.”

Heisley would love to have Battier back but understands that Battier — an unrestricted free agent — may have other options and priorities.

“I love Shane,” said Heisley. “When we traded for Shane, it was with the intention of keeping him. But more than any person, Shane will make his decision on multiple things. He has the rest of his life to think about. Where does he want to live? I think, basically, that Shane’s next team is up to him.”

Would you guys trade Rudy Gay for the #4?

cavsfan_osiris wrote:Would you guys trade Rudy Gay for the #4?

and the #1, Varajao and Baron Davis? Maybe...

I know Grizz say they are not trading Gay, but I'm just asking Grizz fans would they consider a deal revolving around #4 for Rudy Gay. I'm not sure what else could be added to sweeten the deal, but obviously the #1 is out of the question.

vanjulio wrote:

cavsfan_osiris wrote:Would you guys trade Rudy Gay for the #4?

and the #1, Varajao and Baron Davis? Maybe...

lol.

cavsfan_osiris wrote:I know Grizz say they are not trading Gay, but I'm just asking Grizz fans would they consider a deal revolving around #4 for Rudy Gay. I'm not sure what else could be added to sweeten the deal, but obviously the #1 is out of the question.

vanjulio wrote:

cavsfan_osiris wrote:Would you guys trade Rudy Gay for the #4?

and the #1, Varajao and Baron Davis? Maybe...

lol.

The Grizz are done building for the future and have transitioned into a "win-now" mode IMO (the Battier trade alone signal this IMO); so I don't think that the Grizz would be inclined to deal Gay for a draft pick.

cavsfan_osiris wrote:Would you guys trade Rudy Gay for the #4?

Uh yeah...the Cavs aren't going to do that.

jefe wrote:The Grizz are done building for the future and have transitioned into a "win-now" mode IMO (the Battier trade alone signal this IMO); so I don't think that the Grizz would be inclined to deal Gay for a draft pick.

Wonderful. I hope you are correct and Heisley follows through on his comments.

Triumph36 wrote:

cavsfan_osiris wrote:Would you guys trade Rudy Gay for the #4?

Uh yeah...the Cavs aren't going to do that.

Hmmm...Uh... yeah... the Cavs would do that deal obviously, not sure what you're thinking. The question is would Memphis be interested and from the sounds of things they are not the least bit interested and I don't blame you guys. With a healthy R.Gay the chemistry would be different but I think the Grizz make it to the finals this year.

Every season is different but you have to go into next season with R.Gay and see if the team was just a 1 post-season wonder or if there's something sustainable. I think having R.Gay sitting out and watching what the team can do without him sucked, but he might learn from it as well. The Grizz can become serious contenders.

Triumph36 wrote:

cavsfan_osiris wrote:Would you guys trade Rudy Gay for the #4?

Uh yeah...the Cavs aren't going to do that.

jefe wrote:The Grizz are done building for the future and have transitioned into a "win-now" mode IMO (the Battier trade alone signal this IMO); so I don't think that the Grizz would be inclined to deal Gay for a draft pick.

Wonderful. I hope you are correct and Heisley follows through on his comments.

Uh ...yeah....then why did the Cav's offer that very deal just a few days ago? Uh....maybe.... you should read the uh....news.


Back to the actual question though ... no, I don't think Gay would be available for the #1 pick,let alone the 4th pick, probably not even both picks.
There's just no one that special in this years draft to take a proven team USA 6'9" sf 20/6/3/2/1 player on a win now team with the weakest link at the sf position without him.


there is no one in this draft that could step into the Grizz starting SF position right now and be arguably the best player on the team like Rudy can. Simple as that.

mid-post wrote:You pretty much summed it up. Against OKC, just looking at the team's balance offensively, you knew they were missing Rudy's perimeter offense. And his rebounding ability (and defense) against the length of Durant/the Thunder would have helped a lot. Other than Gasol and Randolph we were outclassed physically.
I think other fans assume that Memphis fans only say that kind of thing (about playing with Rudy) to make themselves feel better about the coming season. I don't remember the exact link or quote, but Hollinger basically showed statistically that Memphis was way better with Rudy and TA playing a bunch of minutes than any other rotation.

Bring back Battier and we are even better than we have ever been. Rudy Gay and Henry can provide the perimeter shooting that we need. Gay was the matchup that Durant would have struggled more against because of his length and physical gifts. We sorely missed Rudy Gay against the Thunder. But, I do not want to have Gay at the expense of releasing Battier. He was too important to our turnaround.

I bet he wont be saying that halfway through the season.

The Grizzlies this postseason were basically the league's best collection of role players. Everyone is either a jack-of-all-trades or a specialist, but there is no one who brings dominance in more than one area. The closest is Randolph, being a very creative scorer and good rebounder. But OKC was able to slow him down considerably (although IMO, Ibaka, Collison, and Perkins did it mostly by fouling, but today's referees give too much leeway to post defenders pushing and jostling, but it's not like that's going to change).

Rudy Gay is the guy who can get a quality shot whenever he wants to, can defend many of the game's best at 2/3/4, provides quality rebounding at SF, is a knock-down shooter from the perimeter, and a go-to guy at crunchtime.

So no, he's not going anywhere. At least not until the team proves that a move needs to be made.

no the leagues' best collection of role players won the trophy. PLUS DIRK