Memphis Grizzlies: 15 best NBA Draft picks of all time
Pick Analysis. 3. player. Scouting Report. SF. 2006 - Round: 1 / Pick: 8. Rudy Gay. 211
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Rudy Gay gets a bad rap, but he’s at least under-appreciated.
His efficiency and usage rating weren’t fantastic but he was at worst, the second-best player, especially offensively for five years. He could flat-out score and he was incredibly clutch. He came into the league in 2006 as the eighth overall pick and was really good for his six straight seasons.
He averaged just under 20 points and six rebounds a game as a Grizzly before he was traded to Toronto in the middle of the 2012-13 NBA season.
One of Chris Wallace’s crowning achievements was the trade that sent him away and the team’s success following his departure. The Grizzlies made the Western Conference Finals, the best playoff run in team history without him.
With possessions and shots that Gay took redistributed largely to Mike Conley and Zach Randolph, their elevated games carried the team. It made sense and the trade undeniably worked out. But this is at the top of Wallace’s list – an addition by subtraction trade that didn’t return anything, just opened things for the team in place.
Also, six seasons of production as the No. 8 pick was something Chris Wallace did not understand and had never experienced before, so he probably felt threatened by Gay immediately.