Rudy Gay is seeing North America the old-fashioned way, by getting traded a lot.
As the public marvels at all of the amazing things about pro sports, getting traded can definitely be one of the crappy parts. In theory, sports trades are supposed to be a win/win with both sides getting players they want.
The reality can be quite different.
In today’s NBA, convoluted salary cap rules make trades a little more interesting. Typically, trades involve a couple of principles and then a bunch of guys who get thrown in to make the salaries balance. Often a player will get traded for no other reason than he makes the right amount of money.
I was traded 3 times in my career, once for cash, once for a draft pick, and once for a salary slot. And believe me, nothing kills your ego more than being traded for a salary slot!
My first team was the Utah Jazz. This was before Stockton and Malone. We were bad, played in a small arena, and more fans rooted for the other team than they did for us. Still we had a terrific bunch of guys and it was a great place to develop.
Midway through my second season we were playing at Denver when I saw the two teams GMs, Frank Layden and Carl Scheer, having lunch in the hotel. As I walked by I said, “Hi guys, how’s business?” Little did I know that they were making a trade for me at that very moment. Looking back, the goofy smirks should have been a giveaway.
I had a big game that night and flew back to Salt Lake with the team. The next night I got a call from Layden at midnight asking if he could come over to my house.
“Now”? I thought. This can’t be good.
He came over and dropped the news that I had been traded to the Denver Nuggets for Rich Kelley and enough cash to save the team from going under. In the paper the next day he said that he had to trade me before my contract escalated to a salary that would make me “untradeable”. My contract was going to skyrocket to $350,000 in 3 more years. (Lunch money today). I was up all night packing for a 7 a.m. flight back to Denver. I arrived in town for a quick physical, a press conference and practice.
Then we got on a flight to San Diego to play the Clippers. By now I was beat and quickly fell asleep. I woke up an hour later still groggy. I quickly realized that I was on a plane but had no idea where it was headed. Then I looked around and saw Kiki Vandeweghe, Dan Issel, and the other players.
Then it all came flooding back. I had been traded and was now a Nugget. Back-to-back games got me acquainted with the guys. Talk about getting thrown into the deep end.
The deal was awesome for me and I blossomed there. Mark Eaton got to play, filling my spot in Salt Lake, and turned into an All Star. That trade was a win/win.
After eight years in Denver, the team finally got old and was dismantled. I was traded to Milwaukee for a first-round draft pick that became Terry Mills. The Bucks were a veteran team with Jack Sikma and Moses Malone ending their careers there.
Periodically there are trades that happen creating unique situations. We had one instance with the Bucks where Anthony Avent showed up for a game to find out that he had been traded to the other team. While he was waiting for the league to approve the deal he watched the game from the visitors bench with his new team, the Orlando Magic.
Some of the trades are a little tougher. I remember talking to Joe Kleine about trades. He had the misfortune of being traded from Sacramento to Boston the day his first child was born. Talk about tough for the family. He rarely saw them for the next few months.
By my fourth year in Milwaukee, the situation had gone downhill. The team was dismantled and went into rebuilding mode. I was the odd man out, being the oldest player on the roster, when they were going young. I met with the coach/GM to request a trade since I had no future there. He informed me that even though I was not going to play, he would not trade me, as my expiring contract would help the team for salary cap reasons. The last thing I wanted to do was sit there game after game while my career evaporated.
I read in the paper that my former teammate Alvin Robertson got into a fight with his team’s GM and starting choking him. As you can guess, he was traded the next day.
I was talking to a reporter about my situation and mentioned that maybe I should choke the GM, that seems to work. Well that quote hit the paper the next day, and in less than 12 hours I was a Laker! Thanks Alvin!
I only spent a few months as a Laker and the team was in a downturn.
Near the end of the season Magic Johnson took over as coach. Wham, it was a zoo in Lakerland overnight. I had a great time with Magic and even though we missed the playoffs.
Two seasons later I was signed by the Miami Heat in Pat Riley’s first year there. He was revamping the entire roster. Soon after my arrival he traded five guys in one day. I had been there only a few weeks and had more seniority than three-quarters of the roster.
That night, we played the Bulls team that was on its way to having the best record in NBA history at 72-10. With only seven players available to play the champs, we came out loose. We actually played our best game of the year and beat them. Go figure.
Some of the other “benefits” of getting traded:
• Some players get to be real estate tycoons as they end up owning lots of houses.
• The player gets to show up and instantly belong to the team. His wife gets to deal with all of the crap. Since players usually report within 48 hours, someone has to deal with moving, kids in school, etc. And it won’t be the man of the house.
• You get to experience the thrill of going to your old home arena and using the visitors locker room.
As Gay gets acclimated in Sacramento, he begins the adjustment period.
Watching the Kings last night as they defeated Dallas by 15, one player who appears he will benefit immediately is Isaiah Thomas, the speedy Kings point guard who was leading all NBA bench players in scoring while playing behind Greivis Vasquez, who went to the Raptors in the seven-player deal.
One of the interesting parts of getting traded is playing in an NBA game with players that you don’t know, running plays that you haven’t learned. Most players use the time-honored solution of jacking up a shot every time they get the ball and claiming that they didn’t know who to pass it to. (At least Rudy will have an excuse now).
But that excuse is good for only two games, so get your money’s worth, Rudy.
Danny Schayes is a retired 18-year-veteran of the NBA, a professional broadcaster and soon-to-be-published author now penning NBA columns for SheridanHoops. Follow him on Twitter.
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These articles are great.
“Anthony Avent showed up for a game to find out that he had been traded to the other team. While he was waiting for the league to approve the deal he watched the game from the visitors bench with his new team, the Orlando Magic.”
That’s bizarre, and hilarious.