SI (Arash Markazi) reports on Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies: The 21-year-old swingman nearly won the Most Improved Player award after boosting his scoring average from 10.8 points as a rookie to 20.1 points last season, an NBA-high 9.3-point increase. Gay became the first second-year player to average more than 20 points in three years and set a franchise record for most points in a season (1,632). This year, Iavaroni will give Gay more freedom on the court and allow him to lead the team after he was thrust into that role in the middle of last season. “If he is the best player on our team, he has to understand with that comes a lot of responsibility,” Iavaroni said. “He will ultimately be judged by how well we play because he must bring it every night for us to have success. He needs to understand that. That’s going to be his challenge this year.”
