Kings Increasingly Open To Trading Rudy Gay?

There’s a growing sense around the NBA that the Kings are becoming increasingly willing to move Rudy Gay in a trade, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). The Pacers reportedly spoke to Sacramento about a possible Gay trade before they acquired Thaddeus Young last week.

Gay, who turns 30 in August, has been one of the Kings’ go-to scorers over the past two-plus seasons, though his PPG dipped to 17.2 in 2015/16, his lowest mark since his rookie season. Still, Gay contributed 6.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, and posted decent shooting percentages, making 46.3% of his shots from the floor and 34.4% from downtown.

Gay’s contract has two years left on it, but the final year is a player option, so he looks poised to hit the open market in 2017, assuming he has a solid 2016/17 season. Teams may not be willing to give up a significant return for one year of Gay, but his $13.333MM salary certainly looks reasonable compared to some of the prices being paid in free agency.

Sacramento is said to be eyeing a handful of shooting guards and forwards on the free agent market. The team is believed to have significant interest in Dion Waiters, and has been linked to Allen Crabbe and Courtney Lee as well. Ryan Anderson is also a rumored target for the Kings.

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