Rudy Gay?

shrink · Post #1 » by **shrink** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 3:39 pm

I'm curious what your guys opinion is of him, and whether you'd want him here?

As you heard, MEM just fired its scouts (ouch) and has always had trouble onthe cash side, despite some fairly odd moves lately. Some national media speculate that Mayo and Gay hate each other and Mayo freezes out Gay, or at least can't play with him. MEM posters say its their coaching.

In any event, it seems to me like Gay may be someone that MEM isn't prepared to match offers for in 2010, and he may be available in trade.

Do you think he'd fit here? Is he a player you'd want as part of our core?

shrink · Post #2 » by **shrink** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 3:40 pm

< Queue the Gay-Love jokes >

Post #3 » by **Worm Guts** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 3:49 pm

The more I hear about him, the less I like him. He doesn't play defense and is an ineffecient scorer.

4ho5ive · Post #4 » by **4ho5ive** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 4:49 pm

He was poised for a big breakout season last year before Mayo came in and there was no real distributor out there until Conley started stepping up. I like Gay and think that next to Love, Al, Flynn and potentially Rubio this is as near a perfect fit as he will find.

PeeDee · Post #5 » by **PeeDee** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 5:01 pm

I think Gay would be an exceptional fit with our current group of guys (and one future European one). He has his faults, but they are correctable and his strengths are JUST what the Wolves need.

I'm thinking, in the right system, Gay pulls a Carmelo-esque turn around and becomes one of the premiere wings in the league. He's got all the tools to do it, that's for sure.

Between Jefferson, Gay and Flynn, we've got our scoring covered. As we know, Love is no slouch getting to the line and getting blue collar points in the paint. Inside and outside, that's an exciting group offensively. Defensively, Gay would have to improve considerably and we'd have to hope Flynn pans out defensively as Kahn projected him.

I think with a line-up of Al, Love, Gay and Flynn, Rubio would fit in seemlessly. He and Flynn would share the playmaking duties and Rubio would not need to score a ton. We'd certainly be beastly in transition. Gay is one of the wings in this league I'd want the most and he might be the easiest to get.

horaceworthy · Post #6 » by **horaceworthy** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 5:30 pm

PeeDee wrote:I think Gay would be an exceptional fit with our current group of guys (and one future European one). He has his faults, but they are correctable and his strengths are JUST what the Wolves need.

I'm thinking, in the right system, Gay pulls a Carmelo-esque turn around and becomes one of the premiere wings in the league. He's got all the tools to do it, that's for sure.

Physical tools? Yes. Mental tools? Can't say that for certain.

mandurugo · Post #7 » by **mandurugo** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 5:44 pm

I think Worm Guts is on the right track. He feels like a great player to have on a bad team, able to give the fans some highlight moves, but not much of a team player. Just the impression I've gotten watching from a distance.

karch34 · Post #8 » by **karch34** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 5:49 pm

I'd be down with getting him. There's some question marks, as people have noted, but I think that's going to be the case with anyone we look to deal for or sign going forward. He's a talented player who can put up 20ppg and play the wing. I'd roll the dice.

jade_hippo · Post #9 » by **jade_hippo** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 7:41 pm

enter Gay-Love 2: Keepin' it Hot in the Great White Northland Costaring Stewie Griffin, J-Fly, and the Rick the forgotten Jonas Brother.

Seriously though, who would we give up for Gay?

*edit: Gay-Love 2 is the sequal to Gay-Love: One Short Night in Memphis*

PeeDee · Post #10 » by **PeeDee** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 7:42 pm

Just sign him to a big contract next Summer.

Dewey · Post #11 » by **Dewey** » Mon Aug 3, 2009 10:12 pm

IMO: Rudy has suffered from a lack of leadership, and until he matures or a coach or another player can offer it, he may continue status quo. I think he has a lot of upside. His defense is okay, but certainly the one dimension that he could improve the most.

skorff26 · Post #12 » by **skorff26** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 1:40 am

I wouldn't want him, he isn't that good of a defender and needs the ball a lot. If we were going after him, I'd rather wait until free agency and see what kind of money he is getting and then make an offer.

Biff Cooper · Post #13 » by **Biff Cooper** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 3:02 pm

It seems like Gay's game might get better if he ever gets on a team where he needs to do less. He is a good outside shooter with excellent athleticism. If he can get on a team where all he's expected to do is play defense, get out on the break, and hit a good percentage of his open shots, I think he could be a very valuable asset. If this is what we're looking for out of him, I'm all for trying to sign him to a reasonable contract.
I don't see him ever being a #1 or #2 scoring option for a team, a team leader, someone that you want creating offense, or even someone that has a decent BB IQ. If we are expecting these things out of him, I am against signing him.

diegorociana · Post #14 » by **diegorociana** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 3:08 pm

I don't like Rudy. Gay is egoist. He is very talented but he hasn't become awareness of team. He needs a ball for him and another ball for the team if they want to touch it.

Two years ago, he believed that he was the leader of the Grizzlies, above of Gasol. Gasol ended tired of him and tired of Grizzlies that couldn't make a great team and he was traded to LA to show what he could do for a team and see what Grizzlies have become.

A twenty years old boy can't be the leader of a team. You can be the best player of the team with this age but you can't be the the leader. You need some maturity that you can only have with years of profesionalism.

Winter Wonder · Post #15 » by **Winter Wonder** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 4:03 pm

Biff Cooper wrote: He is a good outside shooter with excellent athleticism.

This was my concern. I haven't watched him much lately, nor even read about him. With the line-ups being proposed, the thing that is lacking seems to be outside, and more specifically, three-point shooting. It is great to have the athletes for a running type of system, but we will be playing a bit of half court and even pick and roll basketball with Jefferson and his post play and Rubio with his ability to penetrate. That being the case, does Gay have consistent 3 point range and shoot at an efficient percentage? I know we hope Ellington will be able to fill this role somewhat, but I think Wayne will be a bench player in the rotation, but not with starter minutes. We would need a starter to be able to knock down the long ball. I am not saying Gay couldn't be this person, I am just not sure that he is or would be.

I like the player, can see a pretty solid fit, just not sure he would be reliable enough from outside. If he can be, then a definite yes from me on a decent contract...

PeeDee · Post #16 » by **PeeDee** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 4:13 pm

He's shot an average of 35% from 3 in three years. Not terrible for a SF. If he can get that up to 38 or 39%, and if Flynn can do the same, we'll be okay. Especially if we can find someone that shoots 40% or above at the shooting guard position.

Post #17 » by **C.lupus** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 4:52 pm

Biff Cooper wrote:I don't see him ever being a #1 or #2 scoring option for a team, a team leader, someone that you want creating offense, or even someone that has a decent BB IQ. If we are expecting these things out of him, I am against signing him.

I'm not disagreeing with you Biff but this is where I start getting confused with Kahn's plan. He stated that Al was a #2 guy on a championship team and Love was a #4 guy and that he wanted to bring in the pieces to make a championship-level team. That, to me, means bringing in a #1 guy. Does he think Flynn or Rubio is that guy? If so, then a guy like Gay makes sense. If not, we need to set our sights higher.

Winter Wonder · Post #18 » by **Winter Wonder** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 4:59 pm

PeeDee wrote:He's shot an average of 35% from 3 in three years. Not terrible for a SF. If he can get that up to 38 or 39%, and if Flynn can do the same, we'll be okay. Especially if we can find someone that shoots 40% or above at the shooting guard position.

Not terrible for a SF, though I was hoping for it to be a bit closer to 40% +. Ellington should be able to shoot at that clip, hopefully. If MN does intend to go two PG, I just didn't think depending on Rubio or Flynn (though Flynn has a better chance) to shoot at the rate made sense. I don't think they are that type of scorer and will be able to drain outside shots. I think Gay has a better chance at that than Rubio or Flynn and it is why I was hoping he was already closer to or above that 40% mark.

My concern is the other long term pieces with the SF/SG of the future and their lack of consistency from outside. This may determine the wing player type MN goes after in the long run. Maybe it could be Gay, not sure at this point though.

PeeDee · Post #19 » by **PeeDee** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 5:17 pm

Oh yeah, I forgot about Blond Ricky. Well if Flynn, Rubio and another SG (Ellington?) are splitting minutes and if Gay can be more reliable from 3, I see it as a non issue. Hey wasn't Love supposed to be able to knock down the 3 too?

Biff Cooper · Post #20 » by **Biff Cooper** » Tue Aug 4, 2009 6:28 pm

C.lupus wrote:
Biff Cooper wrote:I don't see him ever being a #1 or #2 scoring option for a team, a team leader, someone that you want creating offense, or even someone that has a decent BB IQ. If we are expecting these things out of him, I am against signing him.

I'm not disagreeing with you Biff but this is where I start getting confused with Kahn's plan. He stated that Al was a #2 guy on a championship team and Love was a #4 guy and that he wanted to bring in the pieces to make a championship-level team. That, to me, means bringing in a #1 guy. Does he think Flynn or Rubio is that guy? If so, then a guy like Gay makes sense. If not, we need to set our sights higher.

I think Kahn's plan is a mystery to all of us, and I'm not sure that he's targeted specific F.A. or trade deadline targets yet. We do have the luxury this season to see what we have in a lot of players, and are in a cap position that should allow us to re-assess and agressively attack where we see needs. I think Kahn had Flynn and Rubio as the top two guys on his board at #5 and 6, but I am really at a loss as to how he views both of them. The way he talks about Rubio ("transformational talent"), it sounds like he thinks of him as a #1 option. Still I'm not convinced that if they only had one pick that they wouldn't have taken Flynn over Rubio ("we purposely drafted Rubio first to help him out with his buyout"), so I'm not sure if that means he also views Flynn as a #1, or if everything he says is misleading B.S.

I am also not convinced that Kahn doesn't view Jefferson as a #1 option on a championship team. The guy creates more double-teams than pretty much anyone else in the league. His statement about Jefferson being a #2 might've been more motivational for him to get better at defense, passing out of double teams, and being a leader than anything else.

If we are still looking for a #1 or #2 championship option after this year, I agree with you that we shouldn't be looking at Gay.