NBA Trade Rumors 2016: Rudy Gay To OKC Thunder From Kings Still A Possibility?

As various NBA trade rumors continue to fly around the internet, one of the latest has more merit than most. It appears that Sacramento Kings star Rudy Gay could be a target for a team in need of some help. The Oklahoma City Thunder are said to still be considering Gay for their roster, after the departure of Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors. How likely is the deal to get done and will it help OKC get back towards the Western Conference Finals again?

On Thursday, ESPN’s Zach Lowe offered up the valid speculation of a deal involving Rudy Gay heading to the Thunder. Apparently, OKC is said to still be “interested in bigger wings,” which makes perfect sense after KD’s departure. While they brought in Victor Oladipo from Orlando as help in Durant’s absence, they had wanted him as a sixth man, rather than being part of the starting lineup with guard Russell Westbrook.

Lowe mentions the biggest reason to bring in a bigger wing to Oklahoma City.

“They remain interested in bigger wings, including Rudy Gay, sources say, in part because such a player would slide everyone down to their intended spots: Oladipo to the bench, and Andre Roberson back to defending shooting guards.”

Acquiring Rudy Gay could certainly help to put the Thunder back in the conversation. Right now, the team is sitting at fifth place in the Western Conference, but it’s relatively crowded around that spot. It’s still early, but Oklahoma City’s 7-5 record is identical to the record of the Portland Trailblazers, Utah Jazz, and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets right behind them at 6-5. The Western Conference has always been ultra-competitive and this season looks to be no different.

Westbrook has been the guy willing this team to wins, but it’s hard to expect him to continue such a performance each and every night. Adding Rudy Gay would bring another scoring option. Gay has been averaging 22.3 points per game so far this season through 10 games for the Sacramento Kings.

In addition to just the scoring number, Gay has been hitting three-pointers at a rate of 42.4 percent, which could seriously help improve the Thunder. They rank at No. 18 in the league for the category, and could certainly use the extra scoring against teams with the abilities of the Spurs, Warriors, and Clippers, who are all within the top five right now.

With that said, Oklahoma City would need to come up with something or someone reasonable to offer the Kings in exchange for a player of Gay’s value. As CBS Sports noted in their report, there was a deal in the works before between the teams, or at least close to in the works. Oklahoma City was gong to offer a package deal to Sacramento which had second-year guard Cameron Payne included. Payne suffered a broken foot which ended that deal in a hurry.

That means OKC needs to consider other options to exchange for Gay, or sit tight for a bit until they can figure out another move to make. It will all be up to Thunder General Manager Sam Presti to come up with a reasonable deal to bring the scoring services of Rudy Gay to Oklahoma City. It’s hard to say what that deal is at the moment, but with the team “interested” it seems much more likely to happen than a Klay Thompson move out of Oakland this season.

NBA fans, do you believe Rudy Gay will be traded to the Thunder before the trade deadline? If so, what can the Thunder realistically offer in exchange for a player of Gay’s value.

[Featured Image by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images]