The list of teams that have interest in a trade with Memphis for Rudy Gay has gotten pretty long:
That's a fifth of the league with at least some interest in acquiring the highly-paid athletic wingman. And you can add two more to the fire.
First, the Wizards have made a "good" offer for Gay, according to CSN Bay Area's Ric Bucher. That the Wizards are interested isn't surprising given that they are horrible and willing to take on money to get themselves out of the dumpster. But the "good" offer part is pretty clearly an interpretation from Washington.
You can't imagine the Wizards are willing to part with rookie Bradley Beal, who has recently started to figure things out (and shoot the lights out as well). From there, it's Trevor Ariza, which would mean going from overpaying for a good-not-great small forward in Gay to overpaying for a not-bad-but-not-good small forward in Ariza. They can throw in Jordan Crawford in the hopes that he has a similar success outside of Washington as JaVale McGee and Nick Young have found, but that's about it. This doesn't seem likely unless the Wizards are willing to mortgage their future, but keep an eye on it.
Second, USA Today reported Friday night the Clippers are an outside team that actually has some interest in a deal. Now, this makes a lot of sense.
The Clippers are looking to win now. Right now. And they are willing to pay to get there. They have the exact pieces that the Grizzlies would likely want in return. They could package backup point guard Eric Bledsoe with one of two wings, Caron Butler or Willie Green, along with another young player or picks. It fills the need for Memphis and gets Chris Paul another devastating option to run the floor with.
But would the Clippers mess with their chemistry, which has made them one of the best teams in the West? That seems unlikely.
Even if these deals amount to nothing, you know what the big takeaway here is?
The trade value for Gay is going up, way up.
