Report: Warriors expected to show interest in Rudy Gay originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Should the Warriors look outside the organization to fill their 14th roster spot, could they pursue 17-year NBA veteran Rudy Gay?
The former Jazz forward hit free agency last week after a series of trades, which sent him from Utah to the Atlanta Hawks and then to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who waived Gay on Wednesday.
Now, Gay is expected to draw interest from several teams including the Warriors, Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype reported Friday, citing league sources (h/t Bleacher Report). Scotto also listed the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans as the other “playoff-caliber” teams expected to pursue Gay.
Gay will turn 37 in August and posted career-low numbers as a member of Utah’s rotation during the 2022-23 NBA season — save for two weeks he was sidelined by a finger sprain. He averaged 5.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 56 games with a 38 percent shooting percentage from the field.
Before Gay was cut by the Thunder, Anthony Slater of The Athletic noted him as a “name to monitor” should he become available, given the fact that the “Warriors have had interest in the past.”
Golden State certainly is in win-now mode, looking to take advantage of their aging core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green by surrounding them with veteran free-agent additions like Chris Paul and Dario Šarić.
While Šarić is expected to play a role similar to what would likely be expected of Gay on the Warriors, the team has to make sure another addition like him would not take time away from developing Jonathan Kuminga at the forward position. That being said, grabbing more frontcourt depth on a veteran minimum contract could be too tempting to pass up — although two-way guard Lester Quinones could compete for the Warriors’ 14th roster spot in training camp.
But even though Gay appears to be on the decline, it’s possible coach Steve Kerr could find a way for him to make an impact with the Warriors.
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