Sources: Raptors reach agreement to send Rudy Gay to Kings
The Toronto Raptors have reached an agreement in principle to send Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Kings will send Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes to the Raptors. The Kings will also acquire Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray in the deal, sources said.
Gay was receptive to the trade, a source close to him told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night. "He's very motivated and determined to prove people wrong right now," the source said.
The Raptors and Kings will hold a trade call with the league office on Monday to make the deal official.
Gay will fly from Los Angeles, where he was with the Raptors, to Sacramento on Monday morning to take a physical. He will miss the Kings game on Monday night against the Dallas Mavericks, but is expected to debut on Wednesday against the Utah Jazz, a source told Yahoo Sports.
Gay and the Raptors had become increasingly unhappy with each other, league sources said, and Gay's contract was an obstacle to the franchise's desire to begin the rebuilding process.
Gay is making $17.8 million this year, and holds a player option for $19.3 million for the 2014-15 season. The forward will almost assuredly exercise the option and take that salary next season.
The Kings plan to use Gay at the stretch-four position.
The trading of Vasquez to the Raptors clears the way for Isaiah Thomas to take over as the Kings point guard. Vasquez will be a restricted free agent this summer, and gives the Raptors an unselfish team-building playmaker to start rebuilding its team around.
Since taking over in the spring, Toronto GM Masai Ujiri has delivered his second coup on the trade front. First, he unloaded Andrea Bargnani and the $23 million owed him to the New York Knicks, and now unloads the $37 million-plus left on Gay's deal.
Together, Bargnani and Gay reduce the Raptors salary by nearly $20 million for next season.
