Oklahoma City Thunder Interested in Free Agent Forward Rudy Gay
The Oklahoma City Thunder stunned the basketball world last week when they pulled off a trade to acquire Paul George to pair with 2016–17 league most valuable player Russell Westbrook.
With two perennial All-Stars on the roster, the Thunder are expected to contend for a spot in the playoffs next season, but it's not going to be easy. The arms race in the Western Conference just went up a notch when the Denver Nuggets signed All-Star power forward Paul Millsap, but the Thunder aren't done tinkering just yet.
The Thunder met free agent forward Rudy Gay over the weekend and center Enes Kanter managed to fool a lot of people by tweeting a photo of a locker with Gay's nameplate on it right next to Westbrook's. Unfortunately, Gay hasn't made a decision yet.
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According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Gay left town without signing a deal with the Thunder and both parties are still searching for a "financial path" to make a deal.
The Thunder don't have the salary cap space to sign Gay outright, so they will have to explore a possible sign-and-trade with the Sacramento Kings. But Wojnarowski said that's going to be difficult.
Bleacher Report's Tyler Conway also noted that they may have to gut their roster to pull that off.
"Finding a workable trade would depend on Gay's salary demands. Something within the $12 million-$15 million range would be feasible but would also involve the Thunder's gutting what's left of their depth. The Kings would likely demand a package probably highlighted by Doug McDermott — a role player OKC could desperately use next season," Conway wrote in his report.
"The Thunder want to keep their core four of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter intact. If adding Gay meant trading any of them (Kanter would be the odd man out), they would probably move on," he continued.
Gay is an interesting option for the Thunder and they can start him at power forward.
For most of his career, Gay was a borderline All-Star player. His offensive stats were good, but a lot of people think he's just an inefficient volume scorer who needed to jack up a lot of shots to get his numbers. He's also coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. That's a cause for concern.
With that in mind, the Thunder will have to consider if he's the right person to add.
