The case for Rudy Gay to the Raptors: Heisley speaks to rumours (277)

[Maleko]

Gay is better than Kleiza and JJohnson, but not that much. JJ's numbers advanced stats (i.e. TS%, WP48) look not so different from Gay's in his first 3 years. Not saying that means he will be as good as Gay in 2 years, but for a max player I'd want a little more significant an upgrade that that, he's nowhere near the level of Igoudala or Kirilenko, if they're in play, for instance. Would way prefer Batum or just sticking with what we have and seeing if JJ can take another step forward rather than getting Gay.

For comparison:

- http://bit.ly/N27WNv
- http://www.thenbageek.com/players/403-andrei-kirilenko
- http://bit.ly/KuGhO7 <-- click on the "career" tab here.

Except aren't Gay and JJ the same age?

I like JJ a lot but he is not Gay's ilk.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Agreed. No way can JJ be compared to Gay. Gay would be a huge upgrade over JJ! Having Kleiza to backup Gay makes JJ expendable.

Davis & JJ & #8 (& maybe #37) for Gay (& maybe #25)... seems to make too much sense for both teams.

Unless Memphis really doesn't want to unload Gay's contract or another team puts together a better offer, I think this is a trade that works well for both teams.

[Shantz]

Reports are beginning to surface that Heisley has just sold the Grizzlies:

Marc Stein @ESPNSteinLine
Going up online as we speak: Sources tell ESPN that Michael Heisley has found buyer for Grizzlies: Communications tech magnate Robert Pera

This should drastically change how the Rudy Gay situation is handled. Will he even still be available?

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Reports are beginning to surface that Heisley has just sold the Grizzlies:



This should drastically change how the Rudy Gay situation is handled. Will he even still be available?

Can somebody please email Robert Pera a link to all the RR threads that rationalize the various trade options for Gay to land in Toronto, from a Memphis perspective. Cheers.

[AJ360]

The (likely) new owner apparently has deep pockets too; one of the youngest billionaires in the world at 34 yrs old.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/80...phis-grizzlies

[ceez]

Whoa

[AJ360]

I think this reduces the likelyhood that Gay is traded.

[Nilanka]

Yup....if this purchase happens, we can kiss the Gay trade goodbye.

I don't want Iguodala as a consolation prize. Keep the pick, Colangelo!

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Yup....if this purchase happens, we can kiss the Gay trade goodbye.

I don't want Iguodala as a consolation prize. Keep the pick, Colangelo!

I agree that this sale reduces the chances of a deal happening immediately, given that the rumor was in part caused by Heisley's previous comments. However, even the richest owner could find the new NBA luxury tax system to be disadvantageous.

Plus, it's not like the deals were completely without merit from a basketball standpoint... it's not like we were offering Alabi & #56 for Gay. An offer of a couple good, young, cheap players, a top-10 lottery pick in a deep draft and significant cost savings that would allow the team to re-sign mulitple players without becoming a luxury tax team (Mayo, Speights, Arthur), isn't one to be dismissed as a pure salary-dump or cost-savings type of trade.

The timing sucks, but there's still more than two weeks before the draft and I'm sure the new owner is quite in the loop with regards to the curent situation. I wouldn't say a deal is completely dead, but rather the possibliity of utterly low-balling Memphis might be.

[Nilanka]

This is when Colangelo's used car salesman expertise comes in:

"Hey Robert, I'll give you this delicious doorstop, for that crummy old cupcake."

"Done and done!"

[CalgaryRapsFan]

This is when Colangelo's used car salesman expertise comes in:

"Hey Robert, I'll give you this delicious doorstop, for that crummy old cupcake."

"Done and done!"

Haha!

Ok, so we have been acting as though we had an advantage, hence our fair/ideal offer of: Davis & JJ & #8 & #37 for Gay & #25.

What if we flipped that to a fair/ideal offer from Memphis, who still saw benefit of trading Gay: DeRozan & Davis & JJ & #8 & #37 for Gay? Toronto adds DeRozan to the deal and Memphis takes #25 out of the deal. That would give Memphis 2 additional assets (starting SF and additional 1st round pick), while still enabling them to save about $8M next season (enough to re-sign Mayo & Speights?).

What are your thoughts about that trade? Both from Memphis' and Toronto's perspectives? Still a good deal for the Raptors, or is the price suddenly too high?

[Puffer]

..Still a good deal for the Raptors, or is the price suddenly too high?

Too high.

[Fully]

Too high.

MUCH too high.

[Joey]

Heisley's opinion is worth F-all right now on this matter:

Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley finally may have found a buyer for his NBA team.

The majority owner of the Grizzlies told The Commercial Appeal Monday that he has talked with billionaire Robert Pera but there is no contract "at this point." ESPN.com reported that sources say Heisley has an agreement to sell the Grizzlies to Pera for approximately $350 million with a formal announcement expected sometime this week. Both ESPN.com and The Commercial also reported Pera plans to keep the Grizzlies in Memphis.

Pera, 34, is a former Apple engineer who left in 2005 to start Ubiquiti Networks, a communications technology company that makes WiFi networking equipment. He became a billionaire in October 2011 when his company went public. A stock dip earlier this month has left Pera worth an estimated $980 million, but he has been described as a big basketball fan who loves to play the game.

Source

Lets see what Robert Pera thinks about Gays contract.

[ceez]

What are your thoughts about that trade? Both from Memphis' and Toronto's perspectives? Still a good deal for the Raptors, or is the price suddenly too high?

that's crazy high