The San Antonio Spurs made their first significant move in the offseason, signing forward Rudy Gay to a two-year deal worth $17 million. Gay will give the Spurs another scoring option as they try to compete in the increasingly talented Western Conference. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the contract has a player option in the second year.
The 30-year-old Gay was limited to just 30 games last season with the Sacramento Kings due to a ruptured Achilles. However, he still declined his player option that would have paid him over $14.2 million for 2017-18 and took a gamble on the free-agent market.
Gay can provide Spurs with veteran leadership
Last season, Gay averaged 18.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on top of a 37.2-percent clip from three-point range. The 11-year veteran also provided leadership for the young Kings, who last made the playoffs in the 2005-2006 season. Gay is known to be a scorer throughout his career, averaging 18.4 points in 753 games but his performance did not translate to an All-Star Game selection.
Since 2006, Gay is one of three players to tally 13,000 points, 4,000 rebounds and 1,000 steals since 2006, joining LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the Spurs, Gay will have a chance to compete anew in the playoffs as San Antonio made it to the postseason every season for the past 20 years.
Before signing with the Spurs, Gay met with the Thunder but the latter’s lack of salary cap space forced them to give up their pursuit of the veteran forward. Gay was picked 8th overall by the Houston Rockets but he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he played for six years. He saw action for the Toronto Raptors for one season and 3 ½ years with the Kings.
Kings sign Vince Carter to one-year deal
Meanwhile, the Kings signed veteran Vince Carter to a one-year deal worth $8 million, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The 40-year-old Carter will now enter his 20th season in the league. During that span, he played for the Toronto Raptors, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and most recently with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Despite losing his explosiveness and high-flying acts that made him famous, Carter still averaged 8.0 points per game last season for the Grizzlies. He was a fifth overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 1998 Draft but was traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he won the Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 18.3 points per game.
