Rudy Gay did not suit up for the Sacramento Kings Monday night. Not that they needed him, they got 32 from DeMarcus Cousins, 31 from Derrick Williams and 24 from Isaiah Thomas as they rolled to an impressive win over Dallas.
However, when Gay (and Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray) walked into the building Monday night they got a nice standing ovation from the fans and from the guys on the Kings’ bench. Gay may not be popular in the NBA “Blogosphere” but right now he is popular in Sacramento.
And that can last — if he can learn to play within the team system. Feed Cousins the rock in the post, don’t fire off a jumper over his head. Use the pick-and-roll, don’t gravitate toward isolation sets. Long two pointers are not your friend. This has the potential to be a good pairing in Sacramento and I get why they rolled the dice on it, but it’s still a gamble.