Report said that Rudy Gay had already informed the Sacramento Kings about utilizing his 2017 player option that amounts to $14.3 million and be an unrestricted free agent. This season however, he is arranged to earn $13.3 million.
The Kings have not decided if they will let go Gay as some teams are showing their interest to get him, mostly on a short-term deal.
Adrian Wojnarowksi of Yahoo! Sports notes: "A trade offers Gay the chance to negotiate a new deal using his Bird rights in 2017. Gay is likely to command a sizable annual raise over the $14.3 million owed to him on his player option."
Vivek Ranadive would still want to keep Gay, which is according to him, an important talent with the star center, DeMarcus Cousings. Ranadive said that he can change Gay's mind this year and make him stay, as reported by Yahoo! Sports.
Gay has an average of 17.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in 2015-16 season. Kings is somewhat in mess under Ranadive's ownership. The traded for Gay in 2013 and signed him with for three years with $40 million contract extension, with the player option for 2017-18.
On the other hand, Kings could make a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers before the deadline. A suggested trade scenario said that Lakers would probably sending shooting guard Lou Williams and small forward Nick Young to the Kings for Gay, according to Lake Show Life.
The Kings are in need of guards where Williams and Young would fit. They will be covering the gap left by Seth Curry, Marco Belinelli and Rajon Rondo. They could provide some needed scoring off the bench. The Lakers does not really need Gay, but he could definitely be a good contribution to their offense.
