Gay to debut for Raptors on Sunday [Post #727]

[Rapstor4Life]

so now that he is officially a Raptor, when are we making the "Everything Gay" thread haha

[heinz57]

so now that he is officially a Raptor, when are we making the "Everything Gay" thread haha

i've been quietly hoping somebody would start it and not realize what they were doing ALL DAY... i've also queued up many results of awkward google image searches for the moment it happened..

[golden]

This makes 37 Million worth it. We've acquired one of the clutches players in the league. 6 Game winners. 3 of them being buzzer beaters. How impressive is that? Lebron has only ever made two buzzer beaters in his 10 year career.

Absolutely. Gay >>>> Lebron . Your argument is soooo compelling and backed up with irrefutable statistical proof. Well done.

[Nilanka]

Absolutely. Gay >>>> Lebron . Your argument is soooo compelling and backed up with irrefutable statistical proof. Well done.

Gotta love the straw man....

[tucas]

I tweeted raptorsMR and like Matt said they will waive hadaddi's physical since he can't report within 48 hours.

[Matt52]

How much is true? Who knows.

Why the Grizzlies Traded Rudy Gay Now

Why didn’t the Memphis Grizzlies wait until after the season to trade Rudy Gay? That’s one of the biggest questions being asked after the Grizzlies decided to trade Gay to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday evening. They were already out of luxury tax territory after trading Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby to the Cleveland Cavaliers so why not wait and give their core group one more postseason to try to contend in the Western Conference?

While that’s a fair question, the answer is simple: Gay had grown unhappy with the situation in Memphis and it was time for both parties to move on.

Grizzlies brass had met with Gay last weekend and the small forward made it clear that he would welcome a trade.

Gay was also tired of hiding his frustration. While players like Mike Conley made it clear that they didn’t want management to make a trade and would be upset to see the team broken up, Gay didn’t seem like he cared what happened before the deadline. If the Grizzlies traded him, that’d be fine with him. Last week prior to the Grizzlies’ game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Gay was asked if he thought the front office would keep the team’s core together. He used this opportunity to voice his frustration and take a shot at management.

“It really doesn’t matter what they think about us,” Gay said of Memphis’ front office last week. “It’s all about what’s in the locker room and what we think we can do. It really doesn’t matter what they think.”

Gay was sick of the trade rumors. He was tired of seeing his name surface in report after report.

For quite awhile, Gay had told people in his inner circle that he would welcome a trade from Memphis. Last offseason, he reached out to several players on teams that were pursuing him to discuss the possibility of playing together. Gay was never too fond of Memphis. He seriously considered leaving when he became a free agent in 2010, but he couldn’t turn down a maximum extension. Gay signed for the money, not because he was attached or in love with Memphis.

Also, the Grizzlies were concerned that if they waited until the offseason to trade Gay, he would be able to hold the team hostage since he has a player option for the 2014-15 season. If Gay decided he was going to opt out of the final $19,317,326 of his contract to sign a new long-term deal, he would have some control over where he landed since he could scare teams off by refusing to make a long-term commitment. The Grizzlies didn’t want this situation to mirror what the Denver Nuggets had to go through when they traded Carmelo Anthony. Anthony was in the final year of his contract and he refused to commit long-term to any team other than the New York Knicks, which left Denver with limited options.

Another aspect that has been overlooked is Gay’s shaky relationship with Zach Randolph. Behind the scenes, Gay and Randolph had butted heads for quite awhile. While Gay and Randolph tolerated each other, they weren’t close and had several spats over the years.

There were a lot of things happening behind the scenes that forced the Grizzlies’ hand. Gay was already upset with the trade rumors and delaying the inevitable would have made things worse, especially considering their options could’ve been severely limited if Gay played his cards right. Not to mention, Gay and Randolph had butted heads, so it’s not like the Grizzlies broke up a perfect team that was guaranteed to make a deep postseason run. This was a dysfunctional situation.

Now, the Grizzlies not only shed some salary, but they also acquired Tayshaun Prince, who is a good fit in Memphis, as well as a very promising young player in Ed Davis.

This was the right time to trade Gay, even if it seemed questionable from the outside looking in.

Read more at http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-pho...eWo6voqJelF.99

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Gay to make his Raptors debut on Sunday!

TSN story link: http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=414915

[Matt52]

Gay to make his Raptors debut on Sunday!

TSN story link: http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=414915

Bahhh!

Against LBJ no less.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

ESPN Twitter poll (@ESPNNBA) asked which team won the Gay trade:

53% say Toronto
24% say Detroit
23% say Memphis

[TRex]

Anyone remember this?

[Raptor_11]

Yes! I'm missing fridays game, so I guess I'll get to see his debut!

Too bad its against the Heat..

[NoPropsneeded]

Gay to make his Raptors debut on Sunday!

TSN story link: http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=414915

God damnit

[Matt52]

Ryan Wolstat ‏@WolstatSun

Rudy Gay helped the 2010 USA team win its first gold at the FIBA worlds since 2010. Also is Memphis all-time leader in steals

Forgot about him being one of the last cuts for 2012 Olympic team.

[ReubenJRD]

It'll be a great test for us, although, team will be unsure as so will Rudy Gay be with the system.

We'll either get destroyed, or play very well like last time.

[ReubenJRD]

Don't forget, Rudy Gay is actually a Heat killer in the last few years.

[coastal]

Just wondering when the "Everything Gay" thread is going to open?

[phez]

i still cannot get over his ridiculous salary just for him to hit buzzer beaters

how about getting the rest of the team to actually improve and not blow big-pt leads?

[coastal]

Doh! Didn't notice somebody already beat me to the "everything gay" idea.....was too lazy to read the whole thread

[ReubenJRD]

I think this move was made because of Bells/Rogers.

From what I heard, a big reason why they fired Burke from the Leafs is that he wasn't willing to give up some of his assets for Luongo who I believe was a perennial all-star (I don't watch hockey like I used to growing up).

The Blue Jays made a huge splash netting them multiple perennial all-stars with their trade.

I think Gay is in line with what those other teams did. Grab a big named player (or players) to help market the team around. That is why I don't think Gay is the last move. I wouldn't be surprised if Gasol was traded for as well for example.

Not sure if it's the right strategy or if I'm off base.. but I like owners who think like a big market team and not a small market team.

+1

[connected]

I liked this quote from Lowry about Rudy Gay:

"He’s excited, he’s looking forward to the opportunity," Lowry said. "He definitely knows the situation, he knows how people are going to be looking at him to becoming that player and I think he’s going to prove it. He’s going to be able to be the All-Star that he should always be."