After trading Andrea Bargnani this offseason, new Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri worked his magic again, dealing the overpriced Rudy Gay along with Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to the Sacramento Kings for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson.
Gay has now been traded twice in the last two seasons, and he has been the subject of much scorn for his inefficient ways on offense. Despite undergoing eye surgery to improve poor vision in the offseason, Gay has continued to shoot poorly while using up a lot of possessions, which is a major reason why the Raptors wanted to move him:
Rudy Gay is shooting 38.8% from the field and taking 18.6 shots a game this season.
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) December 9, 2013
Rudy Gay needs to play on the ball to succeed. Except he has no business playing on the ball.
— Bethlehem Shoals (@freedarko) December 9, 2013
The trade naturally brought about plenty of reactions from around the interwebs, and needless to say, Raptors fans are pretty happy the shot-happy Gay will no longer call Toronto home:
"Christmas comes early for many Raptors fans." @raptorshq reacts to the Rudy Gay trade. http://t.co/AMxQBoDsXg pic.twitter.com/UdfkdszEKF
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) December 9, 2013
Masai Ujiri managed to get rid of both Rudy Gay and Bargnani. If he can rid us of Rob Ford too, I'd vote for him for Prime Minister.
— Michael Cho (@Michael_Cho) December 9, 2013
Out in Kings land, there was some mixed reaction. While some aren't all that excited about the prospect of Gay on the Kings, there was much rejoicing about the fact that Salmons and his jab step have been shipped out of town:
This is not bad assuming the Kings waive Rudy Gay immediately.
— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) December 9, 2013
THE JOHN SALMONS ERA IS OVER
— Greg Wissinger (@gwiss) December 9, 2013
NO MORE SALMONS! BEST TRADE EVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Akis Yerocostas (@Aykis16) December 9, 2013
With this trade in the books, there are now important questions to answer about the future of the Raptors and Kings. Will Ujiri continue the fire sale? Will the Kings allow stat sheets in the locker room? Stay tuned for more:
THIS WEEKEND AT MAPLE LEAF SPORTS, 40% OFF MOODY POINT GUARDS, ALL LANDRY FIELDS A SHOCKING 70% OFF! SELL SELL SELL
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) December 9, 2013
Cousins' first move to welcome Gay should be to make stat sheets mandatory in the locker room, printed in giant font.
— netw3rk (@netw3rk) December 9, 2013
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