One area where Gay excelled and Prince never has, is in getting steals. Any lineup featuring him and Tony Allen will likely give everyone in the league fits on the defensive end and the Spurs will not be an exception. Prince has been a good system defender for his entire career and his length and anticipation make him a scary one-on-one defender as well, even if he has lost a step.
#RUDY GAY MEMPHIS TRADE UPGRADE#
On defense, Prince is, even at this stage in his career, an upgrade over Gay. But come the playoffs, not having Gay to throw the ball to is likely to put extra pressure on their point guards.
It's similar to what OKC went through in swapping Martin for Harden, and their offense is doing fine for the time being. So to sum up, if Prince can keep up his three point shooting percentage the Grizzlies will get some much needed outside shooting from the trade, but this comes at the cost of their primary perimeter scoring threat and a deadly fast break weapon in the process. Not having Gay to isolate against a smaller defender might allow the Spurs to employ a three guard lineup of Parker-Neal-Ginobili if the team needs scoring, as Prince isn't likely to be as difficult to defend as Gay was. Then again, having a proper floor spacing spot up shooter might allow the Grizzlies to execute better on half court sets and diminish Memphis' dependence on easy buckets. The Grizzlies rank near the top of the league in fast break points and Gay is far better suited for that type of play than Prince. Perhaps where Gay will be missed the most is in transition, where his otherworldly athleticism and finishing ability made him a terror. That should even things out during any limited runs he's likely to get. Ed Davis, however, is exceptionally good at it, as his domination on the boards against the Spurs earlier this season shows. Offensive rebounding, one of the Grizzlies biggest strengths, should not be affected very much, but it's important to point out that Prince is not particularly good at crashing the offensive glass and his role on the offense will probably place him far from the basket. Gasol will also likely get more shots and will need to deliver consistently for the offense to hum, no small request for a player that has been largely inconsistent on that end. Prince can post up some, but the paint will likely be crowded by Gasol and Randolph, and sending Tayshaun to the block negates the floor spacing he would otherwise provide. That leaves Conley, Bayless and rookie Tony Wrotten to carry the load of the shot creating responsibilities for the entire team. Tony Allen should never try creating for himself or others and while Prince can work on isolations from the top of the key (or IsoTayshauns, as our DBB brethren would call them), he is not nearly the threat Gay is. As of now the Grizzlies have no one else that can function as a scoring threat from the perimeter. You could say that as a defense-first, spot up shooter Prince is exactly what the Grizzlies needed.īut the move puts a lot of pressure on Mike Conley. The Grizzlies needed shooting from the wing badly and Prince, a career 37% shooter from outside and currently hitting threes at a career high 43%, will give them some of that. While Tayshun Prince is no slouch on that end, his role will be likely quite different. Rudy Gay might be overpaid, but what he can do on offense (get to the line, create his own scoring opportunities, rescue dead possessions late in the shot clock) is valuable. Just like it happened with the Thunder and James Harden, one of the Spurs' direct rivals had to make a cost cutting move sending out a very good offensive player and getting back a slight downgrade in the process. You'll find analysis on how the trade affects those team on RaptorsHQ, Detroit Bad Boys and Straight Outta Vancouver but what I'm more interested about is how this trade affects the Spurs and their possible playoff matchup against Memphis.
The Pistons, Grizzlies and Raptors agreed on a multiplayer trade that sent Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to Toronto, Jose Calderon to Detroit and Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye and Ed Davis to Memphis. By now you probably heard about the three team trade that took place yesterday.