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Sacramento Kings small forward Rudy Gay will exercise his opt-out clause as promised, becoming an unrestricted free agent at the start of the offseason, his agent, Roger Montgomery told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.
The athletic wing signed a three-year, $40 million extension with the franchise in 2014 and would make $14.2 million this upcoming season if he were to remain with the team.
Gay has been increasingly regretting his decision to re-up with the team after seeing poor decision after poor decision with the dysfunctional franchise.
The Connecticut product has been one of the best at his position for several years, but now, the soon-to-be 31-year-old has been minimized to a lesser role within the team and is looking to get out at all costs, in order to salvage his career.
Gay was a perennial scoring dynamo in his time with the Memphis Grizzlies, eventually trying to find his place, which didn't have the desired effect in his 51 games with the Toronto Raptors, shortly after arriving in Sacramento, where he would experience a “welcome to basketball hell” as he so eloquently introduced the team to his former coach George Karl, back in 2015.
Among some of his words of discontent are these gems:
“I don't even know who our new players are,” he told Blake Ellington of Sactown Royalty last offseason.
His words of disconnect with the franchise have even gone as far as it feeling like a nine-to-five job he is being forced to work to put food on the table.
“I wake up every day and get ready to play the next game,” Gay told ESPN last October. “I'm with the Sacramento Kings. I prepare as if I'm going to be with the Sacramento Kings. I have no choice but to work for the Sacramento Kings. All the speculation is BS. Really, it's out of my control. I'll come here and be with my teammates and act as if I'll be here all year.”
Gay will garner some attention due to his size and ability to score, but his recent injury will raise flags in the eyes of many teams, making it more likely for him to land a two- or three-year deal than one last max extension to finish out his career.
The Baltimore native averaged a strong 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.9 blocks — despite playing only 30 games this season.
