Rudy Gay's name has been floated in trade rumors for months, and the Sacramento Kings forward isn't particularly pleased with how the organization has handled it. In an interview with Sactown Royalty's Blake Ellington, Gay said that it's been a "frustrating summer," he never asked for a trade and he "doesn't even know who our new players are." The issue is obvious: Gay has been on the block, and the front office has not kept him in the loop about it.
You mentioned people are wondering if you are going to be here next season. I imagine you are like most of the guys in the league and try not to pay attention to that stuff, but do you pay attention to trade rumors and does it bother you?
I mean it's been pretty loud as of late so it's hard not to pay attention to it. I think it just goes to, I don't know, I think there's always ways to do things and in this situation I don't think it's going about the right way. No matter what your intentions to do with your players, I would think the first thing you want to do is make sure people are happy with what you are doing. That hasn't been the case.
So you haven't had much communication with the franchise as far as your future?
No, I haven't. I've had communication, but not the kind of communication that I would say I like.
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If you had your ideal communication situation, what would you like to hear from the franchise?
You don't want to hear things on the internet, on Twitter. You would like to hear it from out of the horse's mouth. Just be upfront with people, that's all you have to do.
It probably didn't thrill Gay, then, that Kings general manager Vlade Divac responded to him through the media. He told CSN California's James Ham that Gay should just call him if he has a problem:
"He has my number," Divac told CSN California. "If I do something, I will call him. Obviously, if I didn't call him, we didn't do anything."
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"Look, I was a player, 16-17 years in the league, nobody called me everyday and tell me what management is doing," Divac said. "Management was doing their job. If something big happened, they called and told me. Obviously, nothing big happened (so) I'm not going to call anybody."
Gay is a divisive player, but even if you're not a big fan of his game, you should understand where he's coming from. Back in November 2014, he signed a four-year, $40 million contract extension to stay in Sacramento. At the time, the Kings were overachieving under coach Mike Malone and playing effective defense for the first time in years. It looked like they were finally going in the right direction.
A month after he signed that contract, Sacramento fired Malone. It has been all downhill from there, and if Gay is still on the roster in training camp, he'll be playing for his fourth coach with the Kings.
Gay has been in the league for 10 years, and he's only played in seven playoff games, all in 2012 with the Memphis Grizzlies. Realistically, he'd probably love to have a fresh start on a team that has a plan for him and a good chance of making the playoffs. He's turning 30 next month, and he's clearly not in a good situation. On top of being on a bad team, he is in limbo. Of course he's upset.
In Divac's defense, he is not obligated to tell all of his players about every trade conversation they're involved in. Generally, though, they will be happier if they feel like they know what is going on.
