Meanwhile Rudy Gay, making $16.5 million this season, was averaging 17.2 points and 5.2 rebounds, very good but not superstar numbers for a player who doesn't contribute much else beyond scoring. After that 12-2 start, the Grizzlies went 17-13 before the Gay trade. What these critics don't take account is that the Grizzlies, who were overachieving in their hot start, have cooled off quite a bit since. The Memphis Grizzlies, a contending team, traded away the deal's best player for reasons that were mostly financial. In some respects, the critics of the trade were right. Not finished there, the Grizzlies then sent Calderon to the Detroit Pistons for Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince. Memphis sent Gay and backup center Hammed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors for forward Ed Davis, guard Jose Calderon and a second round pick in the 2013 Draft. The Grizzlies, despite being serious contenders in the Western Conference, traded away one of their biggest scoring threats in Gay for reasons that were at least as much about money as they were about basketball. Rudy was ruled out, along with like, everyone else on the roster.If you heard the post-trade analysis, you would have thought that the Memphis Grizzlies had pulled out a full-on Miami Marlins fire sale when they traded Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors last week. That’s probably going to change over the next couple of games, with the Jazz announcing today that Rudy Gobert had entered health and safety protocols. Although he’s averaging a career-low in points per game, he’s added some nice depth for the Jazz, and it’s always nice having a veteran with that much experience on the roster.Īccording to Basketball Reference, Rudy Gay has played 82% of his minutes at the PF position so far this season, and just 18 at the Center. Since he’s come back from injury and started to play, the Jazz ripped off a couple win streaks and have been a solid team. The Jazz are 19-5 in games that he plays this season. He’s shooting 38 percent from three so far, which is fourth best on the team. When Rudy Gay hasn’t been playing small-ball five, he’s been pretty good. You can view the rest of the Jazz’s lineup stats here. That lineup has only played 11 minutes together, and for good reason, maybe. Replace Conley with Mitchell in that same lineup, and you statistically have the worst lineup the Jazz have put on the floor this season, with a net rating of -42.3 (defense rating of 158.3, yikes). The less-used lineup of Gay, Conley, Bogey, Clarkson, and Ingles has an ortg of 112, drtg of 91.4, for a net rating of 20.3, which is much better, but only in 14 minutes. That lineup has an offensive rating of 103.4 and a defensive rating of 127.1, which is a net rating of negative 23.7, which is the worst net rating out of any of the Jazz’s lineups with over 20 minutes of time together. The Jazz’s lineup of Gay, Bogdanovic, Clarkson, O’Neale, and Mitchell is the most-used small-ball lineup of the season so far with 28 minutes across 7 games. Until last night, the Jazz’s small-ball lineup hadn’t been very good. but you have to be resilient." #walkoffinterview | /tYYleW1Ebb- Utah Jazz January 6, 2022
| Short some key players, says it was all about adapting.