Memphis REJECTS Cleveland’s Offer of the 4th pick for Rudy Gay

Glad they didn’t do that.  Nobody in this draft, aside from maybe Derrick Williams and Kyrie Irving, will be on the same level as Rudy Gay.

Mayo to Cleveland would be good for him!

I hope they don’t trade Mayo…he is very good off the bench and Coach Hollins likes him….plus I don’t see a must have for Memphis at #4

Glad this deal didnt go down. It doesn’t make alot of sense for either side. From cleveland stand piont gay is in his prime and the cavs are far from contention. For Memphis is make sense to try to shed salary because most people expect there to be a hard cap in place after the new cba and they will have to resign Gasol this offseason but i think they give get more value than the 4th pick in a weak draft if they decide to move gay.

I think the Grizz could get a lot better value than the 4th pick in this year’s "starless" draft.

I am glad the Grizzlies turned this down, but $14 million is a lot of money, plus Kawhi Leonard could be a good fit.  Although I think Rudy Gay should be difference maker on the team next year.  He’s a great athlete and can hit big shots.  He’s also young and still has a lot of upside. 

the grizz are better off getting rid of Gay and using the money for the player they have to sign ZBO, Gasol ,Mayo and Allen.

Its gonna take alot more then the 4th pick. I think if Minnesota made an offer involving the 2nd and Beasley, for maybe Gay and another small piece a trade could be made. Of course this is for salary concerns for Memphis, other then that theres no real motivation on their part to get this trade done.

What about Henry for the 4?

^^ I think you are overrating playoff performances. In no way is OJ Mayo more important to the Grizzlies than Rudy Gay especially if you still have Tony Allen who is that defensive stopper role. Mayo is a nice role player for them but Gay is still their franchise cornerstone. He is a legit offensive threat in this league. You can’t expect Z-bo to carry the offensive load the way he did in the playoffs. Relying purely on Z-bo for your offensive output is not the way to go. Gay is your primary scorer and free’s things up for Z-bo and Gasol. While a talented role player Mayo is no Gay. You can replace Mayo’s production with another solid player. Replacing a 20 point scorer is much harder to do.

ghettosermon,

yeah, the Grizzlies really need Rudy Gay next year.  The small forward position is VERY important (LeBron, Durant, Dirk basically) and I think Rudy Gay is the fifth best small forward out there (behind LeBron, Dirk, Durant, and Carmelo). 

OJ Mayo is probably a top 5 or so sixth man, but I don’t see him being a top starting shooting guard.  He isn’t the pure shooter that Jason Terry is either.  I think he fits well into the Grizzlies system.  Not sure I want to trade him for an unproven guy.  I think our window of opportunity here in Memphis is about 3 years.  Z Bo has probably peaked and Rudy Gay will peak within the next two years or three years, as will Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.  Tony Allen probably peaked this year, and Shane Battier is declining. 

I think the Grizzlies are in "win now" mode.  Therefore we have to keep Rudy Gay, resign Marc Gasol, and see how we do with OJ Mayo as a sixth man next year (if he is not working out then we can trade him during the season).  I want to keep Shane Battier if we can get him on a cheap 2 or 3 year deal.  If not give him a decent size 1 year deal.  If we trade anyone I would trade Xavier Henry.  He was injured all year and when he did play he couldn’t shoot (at all).  I would try to trade him to the Bulls for 2 of their 3 picks (28, 30, 44).  If we want to keep a shooting guard who can’t shoot then I would go with Sam Young (better athlete, more aggressive, can also play small forward).  

I like our starting unit and we have some good bench guys (OJ, Darrell Arthur, Sam Young) but we need a good shooter and an athletic big man.  But, our two best scoring options are Z Bo inside and Rudy on the wing.  Conley and Gasol are good 3rd and 4th options. 

I’m surprised that Cleveland would even offer such a bad trade lol.

 I’m excited to see how Rudy blends in with the squad that proved themselves in the playoffs this year.  But honestly who is going to score the ball for Cleveland next year?

I don’t get it at all though. Why even entertain the thought of a #4 pick for what reason. It’s not like Memphis would use the pick for another need. All Memphis would do is draft a replacement for Gay at the 3. Not 1 player in this draft at the 3 spot projected to go in the Lotto is better than Gay or has the potential to be better, not Derrick Williams, Jan Vesely, or Kawhi Leonard! It’s very pointless to even talk about Rudy being away from Memphis especially after he got that big deal to lock him up.