With his creation and driving skills, he can lead a second-unit offense more deftly than anyone currently on San Antonio’s roster, and it will allow the coaching staff to feel increasingly comfortable resting Kawhi for an extra minute or two every night. Here, with the shot clock winding down, he is able to get to his spot for a pull-up jumper: He can create his own shots, and on a San Antonio team devoid of creators off the bench, this skill will be very serviceable. Gay, in a rather inept offense in Sacramento, had an offensive rating of 106.5, almost four points per 100 possessions better than the Spurs reserves. That figure would have ranked 26th in the league.
When he sat, that number dropped a full 10 points, all the way down to a pathetic 102.6. With Leonard on the court, the Spurs had an offensive rating of 112.6. If San Antonio had to identify its biggest problem from last season, it would be the bench unit’s inability to score. Keeping the ball moving is something the Spurs want to do, and if he is able to contribute to that goal, he will get plenty of time on the court to contribute.Īnd the Gay-Spurs link goes beyond just his potential harmony with Kawhi. That type of unselfish play from Gay will be a beautiful fit within what’s already one of the most pass-friendly offenses in basketball San Antonio ranked sixth in the league in passes per game last season. Here, Leonard comes off a screen, only to be met by a fury of Suns defenders: Few others could create a shot, and that left him out to dry on multiple occasions. All this to say: Everything San Antonio did last year ran through Kawhi, and while he was considered a top-five player in the league, he couldn’t do it all. With the same minutes-played criteria, he had the fourth-highest assist rate on his own team. Of guys with over 1,000 minutes, The Claw had the eighth-highest usage rate in the league. The Spurs had an odd, Leonard-led offense last season. San Antonio and Gay makes perfect sense on paper. Coincidentally, the Spurs need someone who can take the wing scoring load off of superstar Kawhi Leonard. Pop’s military style of coaching and player development could be perfect for him and his growth as a scorer, especially as he comes off an injury.
Now, if Gay needed an instructor to turn him into a more focused and effective player, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is likely the best in the league. This lack of continuity has made it hard for him to focus on developing his skills and refining his talents.
It’s a semi-efficient track record as a scorer, but he has never been considered a top player on any team for which he has played.Īnd wherever Gay goes, he is scrutinized by fans and media alike.īut arguably the most interesting stat about him is that he’s had ten head coaches in his 11 NBA seasons. That second figure isn’t perfect in the modern NBA, but it is still about average and improving by the year. However, he regularly posts excellent free-throw percentages, and he’s a career 34.5 percent shooter from three. Gay’s 44 percent shooting from medium distance has never gotten him much credit as an effective player. Here he showcases that shot, as he knocks one down off the dribble after a down-screen from Anthony Tolliver: He is average or better from a wide variety of locations inside the three-point arc, including the top of the key. His shot chart tells the tale of a scorer who takes a large volume of a statistically “bad” shot: He has certainly had an odd NBA career up to this point, as not many players have had a 20-point-per-game season for three different organizations without ever becoming an All-Star. He thrives at an unappealing and outdated style of basketball: the mid-range jumper. San Antonio signed Gay this summer with the hope that he can give a jolt to their offense.
Using Tim Duncan’s VCR, we can fast forward 20 years to the beginning of the Gay-infused Spurs era. Lonzo Ball wasn’t even born yet.Īnd the newest Spur, Rudy Gay, was a 10-year-old kid who had not yet played competitive basketball.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were still the Seattle SuperSonics. The last time the San Antonio Spurs didn’t win 50 games in an NBA season-excluding lockout-shortened campaigns-came back in 1996-97.