Free agency is about 3 weeks away (seriously) and the deadline is rapidly approaching for NBA players with player options to decide to opt in or opt out of the final year of their current contracts.
One player who has been rumored to opt out of his contract and become a free agent for some time has made it official today: Rudy Gay will be an unrestricted free agent.
Rudy Gay Declines $14.3M Player Option With Kings: https://t.co/w79wY54s0z pic.twitter.com/tGIVUvBiCe
— RealGM (@RealGM) June 12, 2017
This would seem like a no-brainer for almost any free agent in the prime of their career to opt of the final year of a deal signed before the big cap explosion of 2015 and 2016, but in Gay’s case it had to be something that took great internal debate.
While Gay has made it more than obvious his desire to get out of “basketball hell” as he coined it in an interview this past season (I mean can you blame him?), declining a $14.3 million option for the 2017-18 season when you are in the process of recovering from a torn Achilles and could use the season to attempt to return to health and restore your value is definitely a risk.
It will be interesting to see what the market will be for Gay, a volume scorer that doesn’t really fit the direction the league is heading, that is also on the wrong side of 30 and coming off of an Achilles injury. He will find a home and maybe a multi-year contract, but he won’t be earning big time bucks or be seen as a major free agency acquisition.
I’m sure finally escaping Sacramento may be enough for Gay to be a happy camper this summer though.
