Thunr waiv Rudy Gay, per report, clearg way for Jack Whe

Contents:

• RUDY GAY TRAD TO RAPTORS
• RUDY GAY HNTS GRIZZLI
• THUNR WAIV RUDY GAY, PER REPORT, CLEARG WAY FOR JACK WHE
• DWIGHT HOWARD: I’M NOT GAY, BUT I UNRSTAND WHY PEOPLE HI THAT
• RUDY GAY
• RUDY GAY TRA ANALYSIS: WHY MEMPHIS MA OUT LIKE BANDS

RUDY GAY TRAD TO RAPTORS

News servicJan 30, 2013, 05:29 PM ETThe Grizzli, Raptors and Pistons agreed to a six-player tra Wednday that sent star swgman Rudy Gay to Grizzli, the midst of a money-motivated makeover, acquired forward Ed Davis and veteran guard Jose Calron the al that also sent backup center Hamed Haddadi to the Raptors. Memphis then shipped Calron to Detro for At Daye and Tayshn Grizzli also received a 2013 send-round pick om Toronto as part of the Dallas Mavericks, sourc said, were also terted acquirg Calron but were not prepared to surrenr swgman Vce Carter, whom Memphis veted to help fill the void created by Gay's parture. Memphis general manager Chris Wallace thanked both Gay and Haddadi for their time wh the Grizzli.

RUDY GAY HNTS GRIZZLI

"Gay, averagg 17. Tradg away Gay also eas a luxury tax h due next season, while ncentratg the team around center Marc Gasol and All-Star forward Zach Randolph. 1 seed San Anton before losg to Oklahoma Cy seven gam the Wtern semifals -- all wh Gay on the bench after needg season-endg shoulr surgery.

THUNR WAIV RUDY GAY, PER REPORT, CLEARG WAY FOR JACK WHE

"Are you ser Rudy Gay is right there unr KD, Lebron, Kobe, and Melo.

"They do n the risk of upsettg the chemistry on a tight-kn group, even if there were some qutns of how Gay's srg f wh the ball-domant onturt of Gasol and there may be more als like this one g the new NBA llective bargag agreement negotiated after last year's lockout mak the penalti for exceedg the salary p far more punive, and the system begs earnt next season. Calron and Davis had both been startg for the Raptors, but they do have Kyle Lowry wag the wgs at pot guard and likely see Gay's srg punch as the key to vltg back to the discsn a medcre Dwane Casey will have to al wh a b of a log jam wh Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Landry Fields and Alan Anrson as wg players wh siar skill gettg a player wh Gay's natural srg talent, even at the expense of partg wh a valued player like Calron, proved too enticg to pass up. Memphis got rid of Rudy Gay!?!

"This is the missg of Rudy Gay. Not sayg that the Rudy Gay tra January was all about money (apparently there were problems of urt spacg and nng plays for both Gay and Zach Randolph that had bee an issue), but savg sh was at the very center of why Memphis cid to part ways wh the one player who proved srg 20 pots per game (18 ppg reer average) and takg big shots me as natural to him as nial to Amanda now they are out.

DWIGHT HOWARD: I’M NOT GAY, BUT I UNRSTAND WHY PEOPLE HI THAT

Especially when the teams they have to go through to get to the promised land all have one or two of those typ of players on their the Grizzli trad Gay, the Lakers still had a healthy Kobe Bryant, the Rockets had Jam Harn, the Clippers had CP3 and Jamal Crawford, Denver had Andre Iguodala and Danilo Gallari was healthy, Goln State had Steph Curry and San Anton had s big three -- Tim Dunn, Tony Parker and Manu Gobili, who are all pable of wng gam sgle-handly -- pl prev champnship rgs to back that was jt the East and if a team is ser tryg to w a rg, at some pot has to image and strategize for nng to LeBron Jam. If that team is ser about attemptg to w a srg droughts Game 2, pecially relyg on Jerryd Bayls (who took four of the team's fal six shots OT) off the bench as the go-to guy, the void the Grizzli' offense left by Gay was more evint than ever. Wh Randolph fallg to one of the worst shootg slumps of his reer, beg rced to a "shell of himself" player and not beg able to make hardly any baskets (Randolph sred a total of 44 pots and shot 30 percent for the seri), the Grizzli need a player like Gay to take the prsure off of Randolph and Mike Conley Jr., someone to rry the srg load.

RUDY GAY

)Gay played diplomatic on "First Take, " appearg as a gut Wednday morng and rpondg to Stephen A. All Gay uld say about watchg his former team get oted was, "I felt this year was our year...

The Griz need Rudy Gay more than OKC need Harn once Rsell Wtbrook went down; they need Gay as much as Chigo need Derrick Rose once the whole Bulls roster went down. )Dealg Jose Calron's expirg ntract for Gay om Toronto's standpot was a petent and savvy bs and basketball move.

But the Raptors are not tryg to w a champnship anytime the immediate future and what they need/need om Gay is totally different than what the Grizzli need/ what if his shootg percentage wasn't the greatt, so what if he uld at tim be a liabily on fense, so what if would have been a stggle for Lnel Holls to have him -exist on the blocks wh Randolph and Marc Gasol offensively.

RUDY GAY TRA ANALYSIS: WHY MEMPHIS MA OUT LIKE BANDS

Gay was the one player who had the abily to get the Grizzli out of srg slumps that seem to happen to every team, every season the playoffs when facg great fensive teams be Chris Wallace (GM) didn't thk about that, I don't know. I'm not sayg that Gay is worth the almost $18 ln he was due next season or the more than $19 ln he was on the books for 2014-15, nor am I sayg that the Grizzli would have beaten the Spurs wh him, but I am sayg the anizatn owed to the basketball-si of their bs algs to at least for this season fish out "as is" and see what their team would have done wh the origal parts they'd put together to make a potential June n. The Thunr waived veteran forward Rudy Gay on Wednday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported, th openg up a roster spot for Oklahoma Cy to sign Atralian wg Jack Whe.

Before waivg Gay, the Thunr was maxed out at 21 players, which is why the reported signg of Whe had yet to be falized. The Thunr’s cisn to waive Gay me as no surprise. OKC acquired Gay, along wh TyTy Washgton Jr., Usman Gaba and a 2026 send-round pick, om the Hawks on July 12 exchange for Patty Mills.