The Miami Heat had emerged as another one of the potential trade destinations of Rudy Gay this offseason as the disgruntled Sacramento Kings small forward basically demanded a trade away from his current team.
Gay had been vocal in media interviews all summer about his unhappiness with the Kings and that he does not feel secure and stable with the franchise unlike the other veteran players in the league with their respective clubs.
These type of words were not taken lightly by Sacramento and the team is said to be trying to trade him for months, but no takers have yet to arise at the moment.
However, there had been lots of rumored teams who are interested in the eighth overall pick of the 2006 draft, such as the Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and New Orleans Pelicans.
Right now, the Heat has been added to that list of potential trade partners for Sacramento as Miami looks for a veteran player to give a lift to their wing rotation. It should be noted that the 30-year-old former Connecticut standout had earlier remarked that he would welcome the opportunity of joining the Heat and so it is not impossible to push through if negotiations begin between the two clubs.
Fansided indicated that these kinds of trades are what Heat president Pat Riley does, where "he waits for the disgruntled star (although, Gay isn't a star) to demand a trade and then moves picks or expiring contracts to bring him in".
The report even suggested using starting point guard Goran Dragic as trade bait, although it is highly unlikely that Miami will go that route if ever.
Meanwhile, Sportsrageous suggested that adding Gay to head coach Erik Spoelstra's lineup will give them a "big boost at the offensive end" that could somehow "compensate (Dwyane) Wade's departure" this summer.
Dragic and Hassan Whiteside are definitely the new team leaders right now and it is not yet safe to say that the two can consistently carry the offensive burden of the team night-in and night-out.
Unless Chris Bosh gets cleared to play this coming season, Miami will definitely have issues putting the ball into the hoop as both Dragic and Whiteside had never been in the position to be a squad's no. 1 or no. 2 scoring options before.
