Rudy Gay is headed to the Sacramento Kings in a trade, and Sac-Town fans are not happy.
Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Gay was pulled out of the Toronto Raptors lineup before Sunday’s game because of the trade. While terms of the deal are not yet available, Woj says John Salmons, Chuck Hayes, Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson will head to Toronto. Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray will head from Toronto to Sacramento as part of the deal.
Gay was acquired by the Raptors last year from the Memphis Grizzlies, where he previously spent his entire career. Gay has a $19.3 million player option for next year that the Raptors clearly don’t want to pay. He is making $17.88 million this season. He could choose to decline his option after the season in order to pursue a long-term contract on the open market.
As for the Raptors, David Aldridge reports that they can clear $14.5M by declining options and/or qualifying offers for Peterson, Vasquez and Salmons. Hayes is set to make $5.9 million next season
Gay is shooting 38.8 percent from the field this season and banned stats from the team’s postgame locker room. Gay is a career 44.7 percent shooter from the field, so the Kings hope that he’ll improve in a different setting.
