Rudy Traded to the Kings

[SD2042]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... -Gay-Trade

Not once, but twice in one year that Rudy Gay has been traded. This time to one of the worse run teams in the Sacramento Kings. The Raps new GM Masai is serious on revamping the Raps roster and taking the road to Tanksville to rebuild the team from the ground up. Rudy Gay was already struggling to fit in with the Raps, he literally in my opinion was playing the rebel card after some surfaced rumors suggest he wasn't as confident in his teammates and how the team been structure.

If Rudy Gay was pissed about being traded from Memphis, he's definately got to be going out of his mind about going to Sacramento. This is a Kings team that has not been revelent since the days of Chris Webber and Mike Bibby. I wonder how much of a bigger hit this move will be on his confidence. This is like being demoted from a CEO position to a first year manager to one of the guys that just passes mail in the corporate offices. This has to be rough to be Rudy Gay.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Welcome to the Rudy and Boogie show. Should be entertaining, if nothing else.

[Snoopie]

Totally agree that this will hurt his psyche a lot more than a move to the Raptors.

The good news for Gay though is his player option at the end of the season. Even though by doing so he'll be leaving $19 million on the table I reckon he'll do it just to get away from Sacramento.

[Call Me Geoff]

You guys do realize the Kings are under new ownership, building a new arena and are in the capital of CA?

It could be ALOT worse. The new Kings ownership group is cleaning out all the trash left behind by the Maloofs, this will give Rudy a fresh start with a talented big man to work with.

[SD2042]

I would not blame Rudy if he leaves the money if he wants out of Sacramento real bad.

[jefe]

You guys do realize the Kings are under new ownership, building a new arena and are in the capital of CA?

It could be ALOT worse. The new Kings ownership group is cleaning out all the trash left behind by the Maloofs, this will give Rudy a fresh start with a talented big man to work with.

How long until Boogie snaps on him? He had trouble defering to Zbo and Gasol in Memphis, but neither of them are legit crazy though.

[SD2042]

You guys do realize the Kings are under new ownership, building a new arena and are in the capital of CA?

It could be ALOT worse. The new Kings ownership group is cleaning out all the trash left behind by the Maloofs, this will give Rudy a fresh start with a talented big man to work with.

Geoff, I can understand that the Kings are under new management and are rebuilding from the ground up. The Thing is that in the case of Rudy as I stated from an earlier post, how will this move effect his confidence? He rebelled on the Raptors due to their poor team structure. Now with this Kings team, I have a feeling he could do worse. Regardless if Rudy's in California or not. The Kings have not experience winning seasons since the days of C-Webb and Mike Bibby.

With Rudy having the opt out clause on his contract, don't be too surprise if he executes the move and leave Sactown for better pastures.

[vanjulio]

I think Rudy is probably very very very happy to leave Canada for California. Come on get real. They have Shaq in the mix. I think it's a much better situation. I've been thinking this Raptors team was fools gold for a long time. ( E.G. ED DAVIS). I watched Ben McLemore a lot and thought he was the worst lottery pick this year but maybe he just needs time to develop. I thought Kevin Durant was terrible his first couple years too! If you remember he shot a really pooor percentage in Seattle and they had a 20+ game losing streak the first year in OKC. So SAC has a lot of guys that could develop of course and we know Isaiah Thomas, Cousins, and Thornton are legit ballers.

Now I have to agree with some of what you guys are saying--- this could easily go south and Rudy's attitude goes worse. I just think initially he is probably very happy. All these players seem to want to ONLY play in either NY, CA, or Miami. And spend all their time there in the offseason

[rapsanity]

I think Rudy is probably very very very happy to leave Canada for California.

lol don't think so. Anyone who's seen Rudy around in Toronto know he's all about show-boating. He loves the big city atmosphere--the nightlife, restaurants and the girls. He was always seen around Toronto; partying before games, out to dinners, etc.

Even when he got traded here, he said he's happy that he's in a big city now. I don't think he'll enjoy Sac that much. Plus, Demarcus Cousins is not the easiest player to play with.

But as a Raptor fan--we'll apologize to you Grizzlies fans. I remember when we acquired Rudy Gay, we flamed your board saying we got a steal and calling you guys out while you guys just

Now we totally get why you guy were so happy. This guy was a barrier to team success

[vanjulio]

I guess I don't have a good sense for what Toronto is like. The only glimpse of Canada I have seen is the wilderness of Quebec. Now again this is a team that nearly got relocated to Seattle a couple months ago and play in a place called the "Sleep Train Arena" - I guess it's not exactly Hollywood up there in SACTOWN.

[dark-child]

Not since Biff in the movie Back to the Future have nerds hated one guy this much. The new GM in the NBA is very into stats and efficiency so Rudy Gay has become public enemy number one.

Didn't Rudy get married this summer? I don't know where the nightlife thing is coming from but being young with money is not the worst thing to enjoy yourself a little bit. I don't think he hated being in Memphis too much since he still maintains a home here. The problem with Rudy's game lies between his ears and that muscle pumping blood in his chest. Mentality and Desire has always been his problem so Sacramento is just the next organization to take a chance on him figuring things out. The physical tools are there but he just doesn't understand the game and push himself to be the best he can be.

[Snoopie]

The only thing Rudy needs to get better is improved shot selection. Granted, he'll need to improve his shot selection by about 1000%, but if he can do it then he has all assets he needs to be an All Star. That damn pull up jumper/floater from about 18 feet out is the worst shot in his arsenal and probably the cause of at least 10 misses per night.

His defending is suspect too I guess but it's the fact that he jacks up 25+ shots per night, sometimes for less than 20 points. That's his killer.

Will he sort it out in Sac? I can't see how it could possibly happen next to Cousins, Thomas and McLemore, all of who are also very ball dependent players, but who knows? Maybe IT2 will keep getting him looks from the right hand baseline. He'll go 10-10 every night if that's the case!

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

The only thing Rudy needs to get better is improved shot selection. Granted, he'll need to improve his shot selection by about 1000%, but if he can do it then he has all assets he needs to be an All Star. That damn pull up jumper/floater from about 18 feet out is the worst shot in his arsenal and probably the cause of at least 10 misses per night.

His defending is suspect too I guess but it's the fact that he jacks up 25+ shots per night, sometimes for less than 20 points. That's his killer.

Will he sort it out in Sac? I can't see how it could possibly happen next to Cousins, Thomas and McLemore, all of who are also very ball dependent players, but who knows? Maybe IT2 will keep getting him looks from the right hand baseline. He'll go 10-10 every night if that's the case!

If you were talking about a 2nd or 3rd year player your observations would have a lot more merit. But you're not.

Sadly Rudy is who he is. If Rudy had the drive that a Shane Battier has the sky would be the freakin' limit. He doesn't though and never will. His exit from Sac will likely be as unfortunate as it was from Memphis and Toronto.

[Snoopie]

The only thing Rudy needs to get better is improved shot selection. Granted, he'll need to improve his shot selection by about 1000%, but if he can do it then he has all assets he needs to be an All Star. That damn pull up jumper/floater from about 18 feet out is the worst shot in his arsenal and probably the cause of at least 10 misses per night.

His defending is suspect too I guess but it's the fact that he jacks up 25+ shots per night, sometimes for less than 20 points. That's his killer.

Will he sort it out in Sac? I can't see how it could possibly happen next to Cousins, Thomas and McLemore, all of who are also very ball dependent players, but who knows? Maybe IT2 will keep getting him looks from the right hand baseline. He'll go 10-10 every night if that's the case!

If you were talking about a 2nd or 3rd year player your observations would have a lot more merit. But you're not.

Sadly Rudy is who he is. If Rudy had the drive that a Shane Battier has the sky would be the freakin' limit. He doesn't though and never will. His exit from Sac will likely be as unfortunate as it was from Memphis and Toronto.

I'm not sure I get what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying that Rudy is beyond the point of redemption and even if he gets better (shot selection, defense) he will still not be an All Star level.

If that's the case, then I couldn't disagree more. Rudy has the skill and ability to be anything he wants in the NBA. He is still in his prime years and there's no reason why he can't turn it around now if he applies himself.

[jefe]

The only thing Rudy needs to get better is improved shot selection. Granted, he'll need to improve his shot selection by about 1000%, but if he can do it then he has all assets he needs to be an All Star. That damn pull up jumper/floater from about 18 feet out is the worst shot in his arsenal and probably the cause of at least 10 misses per night.

His defending is suspect too I guess but it's the fact that he jacks up 25+ shots per night, sometimes for less than 20 points. That's his killer.

Will he sort it out in Sac? I can't see how it could possibly happen next to Cousins, Thomas and McLemore, all of who are also very ball dependent players, but who knows? Maybe IT2 will keep getting him looks from the right hand baseline. He'll go 10-10 every night if that's the case!

If you were talking about a 2nd or 3rd year player your observations would have a lot more merit. But you're not.

Sadly Rudy is who he is. If Rudy had the drive that a Shane Battier has the sky would be the freakin' limit. He doesn't though and never will. His exit from Sac will likely be as unfortunate as it was from Memphis and Toronto.

I'm not sure I get what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying that Rudy is beyond the point of redemption and even if he gets better (shot selection, defense) he will still not be an All Star level.

If that's the case, then I couldn't disagree more. Rudy has the skill and ability to be anything he wants in the NBA. He is still in his prime years and there's no reason why he can't turn it around now if he applies himself.

If Marc Gasol was freakishly athletic, he'd be the best center in the NBA.

If Tony Allen could hit jumpers consistently, the Grizzlies' offense would be better.

If Ed Davis played with heart/energy every time he set foot on the floor, he'd be a quality backup.

If Calathes could hit a shot, he'd find more driving lanes to be a better facilitator.

"If" is a dangerous proposition when assessing a player IMO.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

I'm not sure I get what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying that Rudy is beyond the point of redemption and even if he gets better (shot selection, defense) he will still not be an All Star level.

If that's the case, then I couldn't disagree more. Rudy has the skill and ability to be anything he wants in the NBA. He is still in his prime years and there's no reason why he can't turn it around now if he applies himself.

Your initial post was along the lines of "if Rudy improves his shooting, he would be an All-Star". While I'm not arguing this could be true, so is the statement, "If my dog pooped diamonds, I'd be a millionaire".

My point was, why even make the statement?

Rudy won't turn it around.

[vanjulio]

I don't really believe it's shot selection either. Kevin Durant would not be who he is without being able to just compete and nail daggers. Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen. It just is in their nature as competitors. Rudy has never had that level to his game. Almost like a poor man's Dominique Wilkins.

[SD2042]

That's about as close to a comparison as I heard.