After dealing productive forward Marreese Speights to the Cavs last week, the Grizzlies were not expected to trade their star shooter Rudy Gay this season. That move saved Memphis from a $4 million luxury tax, but it seems that was not enough to convince management not to get rid of Gay and his inflated salary of over $15 million. The Raptors acquired Gay and reserve center Hamed Haddadi in in a three-team trade Wednesday that also included the Detroit Pistons. In exchange for Gay, the Raptors are trading long-time Raptor PG Jose Calderon to the Pistons and promising PF Ed Davis to the Grizzlies. Memphis will also receive Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye from Detroit, a 2nd rounder from Toronto, and the obvious release from the burden of bankrolling Gay’s hefty contract. The bloated contract isn’t the only knock on Gay, who is very athletic but an average shooter and defender. In many ways, this deal does not make sense for Toronto. The Raptors will now have to pay Gay about $40 million over the next two years and just hope that their acquisition was a nice buy-low opportunity. Gay has been uninspiring this season, shooting below his career average and rated average in advanced metrics like Player Efficiency Rating (about 14; 20+ is considered good) and Wins Above Replacement (a paltry 1.2). Toronto is giving up their reliable fan-favorite Point Guard Jose Calderon who is averaging 11 and 7 while shooting 50% from the floor this season. However, perhaps the biggest blow to Toronto in this deal is losing budding big man Ed Davis. Davis, who won a National Championship at UNC and was the Toronto’s first rounder in 2010, has had his best season as a pro this year, putting up solid rebounding and scoring numbers. In getting Davis, Memphis is adding a valuable frontcourt player who is only getting better and is producing on a minimum contract (unlike Gay). He also gives the Grizzlies leeway to potentially shop expensive forward Zach Randolph at the trade deadline or next offseason.
