According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, Rudy Gay of the San Antonio Spurs will opt-out to become an unrestricted free agent. Jamal Crawford of the Minnesota Timberwolves has also become an unrestricted free agent by opting out, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
Gay’s contract had a player option for $8,826,300 for next season while Crawford was due to make $4,544,400 had he opted in. While neither of these players are quite as impactful as they were in their prime, they can both be valuable pieces off the bench for contending teams.
The moves have added two more notable names to this offseason’s free agent pool.
Rudy Gay
Gay, who turns 32 on August 17, participated in his first season with the Spurs in 2017-18. According to Sportsnet, the 6-8 forward played in 57 games averaging 21.6 minutes per contest (the least average playing time of his career). He posted averages of 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks. For the season, he shot 47.1 percent from the field, 31.4 percent on three-point tries, and 77.2 percent from the free throw line.
After just 30 games in the previous season of 2016-17, Gay’s season ended prematurely as a member of the Sacramento Kings as he tore his Achilles. The 12-year veteran started his career with the Memphis Grizzlies and has also played for the Toronto Raptors in addition to the Kings and Spurs.
In 810 career games, he has averaged 17.9 points and 5.9 rebounds. Gay was selected eighth overall in the 2006 NBA Draft out of Connecticut.
Jamal Crawford
Crawford is approaching nearly two decades as an NBA player as last season was his 18th. The 38-year-old guard played 20.7 minutes per game with Minnesota in 2017-18, his least playing time since his rookie year.
In 80 games, he posted averages of 10.3 points, 1.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 0.5 steals. He made 41.5 percent of his field goals, 33.1 percent of his threes, and 90.3 percent of his foul shots, RotoSports noted.
Fox Sports mentioned that as the only three-time winner of the Sixth Man of the Year, Crawford is approaching 20,000 points (currently at 18,906).
His career has seen him play for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Timberwolves. He ranks amongst the all-time NBA leaders in points (57th), three-pointers made (2,153 - fifth), and games played (1,262 - 30th).
Crawford was selected eighth overall in the 2000 NBA Draft out of Michigan.
