Tag: rudy gay

Utah Jazz sign Rudy Gay and Hassan Whiteside

The Utah Jazz announced yesterday that the team has signed forward Rudy Gay and center Hassan Whiteside.

Gay (6-8, 240, Connecticut) saw action in 63 games (one start) in 2020-21 with the San Antonio Spurs, owning averages of 11.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.6 minutes per contest.

“Rudy brings a valuable veteran presence to the Jazz which will only enhance our group as it continues to evolve,” said Jazz General Manager Justin Zanik. “He’s proven to be one of the most consistent players in the NBA over his 15-year career and we’re thrilled for him to join our club.”

Entering his 16th NBA season, he owns career averages of 16.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals with Memphis (2006-12), Sacramento (2013-17) and San Antonio (2018-21) in 1,009 games (778 starts) and became one of 26 players in NBA history to total over 16,000 career points, 5,000 rebounds and 1,000 steals through 1,000 NBA games played. With 16,903 career points, the Baltimore, Md. Native currently ranks 99th overall in NBA history.

Originally drafted with the eighth overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, Gay earned 2006-07 All-NBA Rookie First Team honors following his first professional season. He has also represented the USA Men’s National Team at the 2010 FIBA World Cup and 2014 FIBA World Cup, helping both squads to gold medals.

Whiteside (7-0, 265, Marshall) played in 36 games (four starts) with the Sacramento Kings during the 2020-21 season, averaging 8.1 points on 56.3 percent from the field, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15.2 minutes per contest.

“Hassan is one of the more physically gifted players in the game today and has a vast amount of valuable professional basketball experience,” said Jazz General Manager Justin Zanik. “We’re excited to add someone with his skillset and feel he’s a great fit with our current roster.”

The Gastonia, N.C. native has played in nine NBA seasons with career averages of 13.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 446 games (324 starts) with Sacramento (2010-12 and 2020-21), Miami (2014-19) and Portland (2019-20). He was named to the 2015-16 All-NBA Defensive Second Team and has twice led the NBA in blocks (2015-16 and 2019-20), also leading the NBA in rebounds in 2016-17. Of the last 10 point-rebound-block triple-doubles in the league, Whiteside owns four of those performances.

Originally drafted by Sacramento with the 33rd overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, he has additional professional experience, playing in the G League with the Reno Bighorns (2010-12), Sioux Falls SkyForce (2012-13 and 2014-15), Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2012-13) and Iowa Wolves (2014-15). He played for Amchit Club of the Lebanese Division A in 2012-13 and Al Moutahed Tripoli in 2013-14, where he averaged 20.6 points on 54.3 percent shooting, 14.8 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per contest.

Rudy Gay says he is 100 percent healthy

Entering the 2018-19 NBA season, the Spurs are built around LaMarcus Aldridge and new addition DeMar DeRozan. Almost everyone else on the roster is part of the supporting cast. But then there’s Rudy Gay, who in 2015-16 with the Kings scored 17.2 points per game and in 2016-17 with the Kings put up 18.7 ppg. But then in 2017-18 with the Spurs, Gay’s minutes dropped from over 30 minutes per game both those previous two seasons to 21.6 minutes per game last season, and he scored just 11.5 ppg. But now Rudy says he’s fully healthy. And the Spurs could definitely use another scorer. Can he fill that role? Will he receive the minutes to make it happen? First, a health update, from the San Antonio Express-News:

For starters, Gay is finally 100 percent after last season’s valiant but often painful return from the season-ending ruptured left Achilles tendon he suffered in January 2017 with the Sacramento Kings.

“Everything is clicking,” he said. “I feel athletic again.”

Gay credits his sense of well being to a summer of hard work in the gym and weight room intermingled with his usual full schedule of community involvement and NBA outreach, including playing in the league’s Africa Game 2018.

“I’ve been working hard, man,” Gay said at his boys’ high school basketball showcase for East Coast teams he hosts annually. “I lost about five pounds. Last year was a little bit of a struggle for me, so I tried to alleviate that by taking the weight off my feet by losing a couple of pounds through working out and eating better. It’s now or never right now for me.”

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Rudy Gay may return after All-Star break

 

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The Spurs are 32-19 this season. An impressive record, especially taking into account their injuries, which have removed Rudy Gay from action for a big chunk of the season so far, and have limited Kawhi Leonard for the majority of play so far. Gay isn’t ready to return to action yet, but may finally do so in mid February, after the All-Star break. This according to the San Antonio Express-News (via the Houston Chronicle website):

League sources tell the Express-News Gay is expected to return to the lineup after the All-Star break as he continues to recover from right heel bursitis he suffered last month.

According to sources, Gay, who has missed the last 15 games due to the injury, was aiming to return next week, possibly against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. After consulting with doctors, a mutual decision was made to allow Gay more time to heal.

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Spurs sign Rudy Gay

Spurs sign Rudy Gay

The San Antonio Spurs announced yesterday that they have signed forward Rudy Gay.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, “the deal is for two years and about $17 million, league sources said.”

Gay, 6-8/230, holds career averages of 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.34 steals in 35.6 minutes while shooting .452 from the field and .345 from three-point range in 753 total appearances. He is one of four players in the NBA to average at least 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in each of the last 10 seasons, along with Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge.

Last season with Sacramento, Gay averaged 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.47 steals in 33.8 minutes while shooting .455 (201-442) from the floor and .372 (42-113) from beyond the arc in 30 games. The 11-year veteran has spent the last three-plus years with the Kings, including the 2014-15 campaign when he averaged a career-high 21.1 points.

More from the Express-News: “The Spurs used their full mid-level exception on Gay, who will provide scoring relief for do-everything All-Star Kawhi Leonard.”

The former University of Connecticut forward was originally drafted by Houston in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft (8th overall) before being dealt to Memphis on July 12, 2006. After spending his first six-plus seasons with the Grizzlies, Gay was traded to Toronto on Jan. 30, 2013. Playing parts of two seasons with the Raptors, he was moved on Dec. 9, 2013 to Sacramento.

Gay is one of three players in the NBA, along with James and Russell Westbrook, to record at least 13,000 points, 4,000 rebounds and 1,000 steals since 2006.

Rudy Gay still a King, for now

Kings forward Rudy Gay is entering the 11th year of his career. Time has flown. He turned 30 in August. The time to win is now, or at least pretty soon. Sacramento probably aren’t the place where that’s going to happen, and it’s likely that Gay will have a new home, either via trade sometime this season or via free agency in the summer of 2017. Here’s the Sacramento Bee with the latest:

Rudy Gay still a King, for now

Gay will opt out of his contract after this season and become an unrestricted free agent, fueling speculation the Kings will trade the forward to avoid losing him with no compensation.

“I made the decision to opt out,” Gay said Monday during the team’s media day. “Whether I sign here, whether I’m here the rest of the season or whether I start here, it’s really not up to me. Wherever I am, I’m going play to the best of my ability.” …

“I’m pain-free,” Gay said. “I’m in the best shape of my life, I’d like to say, and I’m focused. No matter what, I come here to play with my brothers, and that’s everybody in that locker room, and we’re playing to win.”

Rudy Gay remains out with eye injury

Rudy Gay remains out with eye injury

Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay was reexamined today at Kaiser Permanente and it was determined that he will miss tomorrow’s game at New Orleans as he continues to recover from a left eye corneal abrasion suffered in the waning stages of the second overtime against Charlotte on Monday.

Gay’s condition is improving daily and he will be listed as day to day going forward.