enderwilson wrote:SacKingZZZ wrote:Letting go of Gay always comes back to somehow filling that void when he's gone. People have some pretty short term memories, remember what life was like when the Kings didn't have Gay as that 2nd option?
I'm not unaware of this, but I look back and can't help but think that the subtraction of Salmons and the addition of Gay, in theory, should have turned out talent and skill around to the point that we were knocking on the door of the playoffs. Poor FO judgement and management dysfunction notwithstanding, the addition of Gay ended up doing little to improve our record. If I look back to Toronto and Memphis, those teams ended up improving and growing after moving Rudy off their rosters. Pattern or coincidence?
As much as I want to like Rudy for all his talent, skill, and even keel personality, his presence from game to game is too inconsistent to rely on him so heavily. Cuz brings it every night. We can consistently count on Boogie being a 20-10 presence. Rudy, on the other hand, can go off for 30 points one game, and the next he seems like he'd rather be taking a nap. It's this inconsistency and his seeming nonchalance that really bugs me. He lacks a certain passion and drive needed to make the most of his talents. To this end he's almost like Salmons, except much more talented and that's frustrating. I'd probably favor starting Casspi for all his hustle and drive over Gay at this point.
But the FO stuff is probably the only reason anyone is even really thinking about Gay as a addition by subtraction at this point. I remember post trade it looked really good for the Kings and his personal performance hasn't really even drastically suffered much regardless. We don't need to go into the story of what happened, we all know, but you have various coaches using him differently and a system under Karl that was doomed to fail.
As for Memphis improving, I would hardly call that them improving because Gay was no longer on the team. They stayed somewhat in the same area because they were a good team and players like Gasol started to shine and grow as players themselves. You still heard things about what they could have been had they held onto Gay. They missed his talent in some of those series. That's where his value is. He won't change a teams fortunes by himself, but it's those moments where you need that talent boost is where his value is at.
I'm of the mindset that anyone outside of Cuz is movable if they are trying to still give this a go. But just giving up that talent isn't guaranteed to yield the same results as the teams you've mentioned because the situations are different. Those teams arguably had a lot more scoring talent to fall back on. And in Toronto, the reason Gay didn't fit in is because they used him pretty much the same exact way Karl did, but it was even worse because he and Derozan fought for the same spots on the floor. The Kings have some scoring talent outside of Gay, but things are so whacky that you can't just assume it's enough. There were some games last season where Gay was out and while I like Omri and wouldn't mind him as the starting SF if they are able to fill Gays role with a better fit at another spot, you could see the Kings lacked that 2nd guy able to create his own offense and Cuz had to do waaay to much as a result.
I say stick to a blueprint, and if you can bring it to life but have to move someone like Gay then do it. Or, maybe see if he fits in first. Then decide.
