With Danny Green back and now Rudy Gay in the fold, San Antonio should be able to enter next season with the core of the team that won 47 games last year.
This move suggests the Spurs are not planning on embarking on a full rebuilding effort regardless of what happens with Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs, meanwhile, secured the services of a potent bench scorer who fit their culture well last season at a reasonable price and without compromising their future cap flexibility. In 2022-23, Gay will earn a base salary of 6,184,500, while carrying a cap hit of 6,184,500.
He will have an opportunity to re-enter free agency next summer, when more teams are expected to have cap space. Rudy Gay signed a 3 year / 18,553,500 contract with the Utah Jazz, including 18,553,500 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of 6,184,500.
Gay will have another year to rebuild his value. This new deal seems good for both parties. Fortunately, all he was looking for was a bump in his paycheck. Hell be joining a new team in 2021-22 after inking a contract with the Jazz.
During those four seasons, he averaged 11.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.0 minutes and held an average per-game fantasy rank of 152. The fact that the Spurs didn’t have full bird rights to the veteran combo forward made his return seem unlikely once he opted out. Over the past four seasons, Gay established himself as a solid veteran bench option at forward with the Spurs. They should still have the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception to make other additions. The Spurs will likely use the non-bird free agent exception to re-sign Gay, which means they will probably remain over the cap. Other teams, including the Warriors, reportedly showed interest, but Gay decided to re-sign with the Spurs for another season at a slightly higher figure. He opted out, entering unrestricted free agent. However, Gay suffered a torn Achilles early in the midst of the 2016-17 season, forcing the forward to settle for less money than he previously could’ve gotten. Gay had a contract option to stay in San Antonio worth under nine million. Gay signed a two-year, 17 million deal to the Spurs, with a team option for the second season, prior to the 2017-18 campaign after an individually successful stint with Sacramento. PtR’s latest T-shirt features Lonnie Walker IV, and it’s as unique as he is.