The Boston Celtics could emerge as potential suitors for veteran wing-man Rudy Gay, who recently announced that he will opt out of the final year of his deal with the Sacramento Kings. Basketball Insiders writer Moke Hamilton provides his opinion on the Celtics taking the borderline All-Star talent in free-agency.
Will Celtics rekindle interest in Gay?
Gay to Celtics scenario has been floating around for the last two or three years. After all, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge really likes what the veteran brings to the table both as a scorer and versatile floor-spacer.
With Gay set to hit the free-agency market, the question now is will Ainge pursue Gay once again?
Hamilton thinks there’s a chance Gay will end up with Boston by the end of summer, only if he’s willing to take a much lesser scoring role off the bench. Make no mistake. The Celtics are going to use a major portion of their projected $40 million cap space for marquee free-agents, but in case they strike out anew, Gay appears to be a solid pick-up out there.
“Brad Stevens, no doubt, prefers his players to be a tad more hard-working and pass-happy than Gay has shown himself to be over the course of his career, but in spurts and primarily for the purpose of providing offense off of the bench, Gay could fit in well with Boston’s second unit.
That obviously assumes he would be amenable to such a situation,” Hamilton stressed in his article.
Gay, who is boasting a career average of 18.5 points on 45 percent shooting with 5.9 rebounds per game, may not be the superstar-type of a player Ainge has been searching for. However, the former UConn standout can sure add some firepower to the Celtics’ current roster make-up.
Again, it heavily depends on Gay whether he’s open to accept a much lesser role. But at 30 years of age, he might be compelled to join a title contender now before retiring without even reaching an NBA Finals.
Keep the top pick
Ainge is not too much inclined to shop their potential top-pick. David Aldridge of NBA.com reported the Celtics general manger plans to keep their lottery pick despite getting offers from multiple teams.
Apparently, Ainge wants to use the first-round pick for point guard prospects Markelle Fultz of Washington and Lonzo Ball of UCLA. With Isaiah Thomas’ contract expiring at the end of next season, it becomes a priority for the Celtics executive to find an heir apparent at the point guard spot in case Thomas bolts out.
