A lot of teams have cleared cap space this summer but not every one of those teams are going to get some of the great unrestricted free agents on the market. That means that 23-year old SF Rudy Gay will likely be pursued by a lot of teams driving up the price for the Grizzlies but they have little option but to match it or they will be looked down upon. Gay played in 80 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 39.7 minutes, 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He has now played in 318 games (281 starts) in his four years with the Grizzlies and he has averaged 35.3 minutes, 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Gay has played the 8th most games in Grizzlies’ history with 318. He is also # in three pointers made (337), #8 in rebounds (1,756), #3 in steals (198), #6 in blocked shots (276) and #3 in points scored (5,538) in team history. Hopefully Gay will be re-signed so he can move higher up in the Grizzlies’ record book.
UPDATE: (6/30/2010) - The Grizzlies have extended a qualifying offer to Rudy Gay giving the Grizzlies a chance to match any offer he gets. The Timberwolves seem willing to offer Gay a lot of jack so it will be interesting to see if the Grizzlies’ front office does the right thing by matching it.
UPDATE II: (7/1/2010) - The Grizzlies have re-signed Rudy Gay to a 5-year, $81.6 million dollar deal. This is a excellent move for the Grizzlies as it proves that they are serious about putting a winning team on the basketball court.