The bottom tier teams in the West include the Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, and Los Angeles LOLakers. And that is the unspoken aspect of the shift in the Western Conference. Trading Gay away opens up more shots to the low-post players but the addition of Bogut counteracts that to an extent.Įven if Gay were still on the team, I'd argue that the Warriors are their own toughest opponents at this point of the season. Prince is a solid shooting option-albiet the low shot attempts this season-but he isn't the same iso-threat Gay is on the low block. With Bogut able to man the center position down low against Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, there's less stress for Lee to constantly box out-and more likely, get dominated. Holding health as a constant, we can safely say that the matchups are a bit more even than they were about a month ago. Ironically, some might compare Harrison Barnes to Gay and that's all they have in terms of sheer athleticism that can check Gay. Simply put, he's a bad matchup for a Warriors team a bit devoid of truly athletic players.
But Gay's five on the court has posted a higher net offensive rating against the Warriors the past two seasons. Yeah, super small sample size this season and all of that. The Warriors shoot much better than their team averages when Rudy Gay is off the court, most notably from three. That's over a quarter of a season.Īccording to NBA.com's advanced stats, the Warriors have shot worse in the restricted area and mid-range when Gay is on the court. And he's played 23 games against the Warriors in his career. His career numbers? 45.2 from the field and 34.4 from distance with only four attempts per game.
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He shoots 47.6 percent from the field, 37.8 percent from distance and attempts five free throws per game. Looking at this from a pure addition-subtraction angle, Rudy Gay averages 21 points against the Warriors, the highest amongst all the teams he has played. IF the Dubs can stay healthy, and the question isn't so much "IF" anymore as it is for how "long", their rotation matches up well with the Grizzlies'.
Okay, so now that we've tentatively agreed that the Grizzlies will probably be better off without Gay, why would this bode well for the Warriors? This all works well in the regular season as Memphis will probably finish fourth or fifth in the Western Conference. Keep in mind that the Grizzlies were 18-6 to start the season only to stumble through a 11-10 stretch in their past 21 games. Without Gay's high-usage (career-high 23.9, according to ESPN) ways, the ball can move around more with Marc Gasol, an excellent passer, and Zach Randolph getting more touches. In the Grizzlies case, I believe that they become a better team by starting Prince at starting forward, have Davis come off the bench, and Daye as a three-point specialist. There's great analysis on whether the Grizz is better off without Rudy Gay here, here, and everywhere. That's on some San Antonio Spurs suckage level. In the last 16 meetings spanning almost four and a half seasons against the Grizzlies, the Warriors have won three games. In the end, however, this trade means little for the suddenly-potent Dubs. Stay with me here, I think this trade makes the Grizzlies a better team-helping their offense flow while maintaining great defense-but on the same token, this presents a better matchup for the Warriors. There was a Jose Calderon and a three-team trade in there but we don't care.Īll we care about is what exactly does this mean for your Golden State Warriors? They gave up Gay to the Toronto Raptors and received Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye (from Detroit), and Ed Davis (Toronto). If you don't know yet, John Hollinger's Memphis Grizzlies (kidding, but is it that much of a coincidence that his signing coincided with a flurry of moves?) finally traded Rudy Gay and created some salary cap relief.