Lakers Trades: The Case For Rudy Gay In LA

The Sacramento Kings are reportedly shopping Rudy Gay, should the Lakers be interested?

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported that Rudy Gay is on the trading block after informing the team he intends to opt out of his contract at the end of the year.

"Gay’s pledge to the Kings’ ownership and front office that he’s strongly leaning against re-signing with Sacramento is a declaration that could increase pressure on the organization to trade Gay sooner rather than later."

Knowing what they know now, the Kings would be silly to let Gay walk for nothing. After all, they did give up John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes for him.

While that might sound like a steal for the Kings, the Toronto Raptors were the ones made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016, while Gay and the Kings watched as their team drafted not one, but two 7-footers.

If the Kings and Gay are heading for an ugly divorce, the Lakers should be the booty call.

I used that analogy for a good reason, I swear.

If the Lakers decided to acquire Gay’s contract, there would be no long-term commitment.

His contract would come off of their books next summer if he decided to opt out of his current contract and with the money that players are getting with the increasing salary cap, he most certainly will.

Gay will make roughly $13.3 million this season and the Lakers would have to match his salary if they wanted to make a move.

A trade involving former Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and Nick “Swaggy P” Young would do the trick, and it would actually make a ton of sense for the Kings.

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With the departures of Rajon Rondo, Marco Belinelli, and Seth Curry, the Kings are paper thin at both guard spots. Darren Collison should start for Sacramento this season, unless Ty Lawson is absolutely breathtaking in training camp.

The other options at the guard positions are limited to Arron Afflalo, who should also start, and Ben McLemore, who took a huge step back after a promising sophomore year with the Kings.

Williams and Young could provide some much needed scoring off the bench for Sacramento on dirt cheap deals.

As crazy as it sounds, this trade would actually cause a bigger problem for the Lakers.

After signing two-time All-Star Luol Deng and drafting a lengthy Brandon Ingram, the Lakers are set at the small forward position for the first time in years.However, both players mentioned are versatile enough to play multiple positions.

For example, if head coach Luke Walton wanted to keep both Gay and Deng in the starting lineup, there wouldn’t be a huge problem.

Deng is 6’9, the same height as the projected starting power forward for the Lakers, Julius Randle. Meaning, Walton could theoretically run with a starting five consisting of D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Gay, Deng and Timofey Mozgov.

Deng is actually a better defender and scorer than Randle currently is. Unless Randle made huge strides in both areas this summer, this tweak would actually be better for Los Angeles. If Walton decided he’d rather see Randle in the starting lineup, Deng or Gay could accept a bench role much like Andre Iguodala did with the Warriors.

Regardless, the Lakers might have enough talent to make a run at a playoff spot in the wild, wild west.

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Any package involving one of the Lakers young guns is laughable, but if the Lakers can get Gay for cheap, things could get very interesting very soon in Los Angeles.

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