As the flurry of the first day of NBA free agency slowed down Monday night, there was one player who many Utah Jazz fans on Twitter were hoping the Jazz could agree to a deal with: Rudy Gay.
On Tuesday morning, those fans got their wish, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Jazz and Gay have agreed to a two-year deal, with a player option on the second year.
The Deseret News confirmed the deal.
Gay, 34 (he’ll be 35 on Aug. 17), has been in the NBA since 2006, having started his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, meaning he’ll be reunited with former teammate Mike Conley, who agreed to re-sign with the Jazz Monday.
After seven years with the Grizzlies, Gay spent part of a season with the Toronto Raptors, then four years each with the Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs.
For his career, Gay has been known as a great scorer and has averaged 16.8 points per game, although his scoring numbers have dipped as he has gotten older. He has also averaged 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals in his career.
Even though Gay is older, he’ll theoretically be able to offer a defensive presence on the wing that the Jazz sorely need.
With Gay occupying the Jazz’s taxpayer midlevel exception, the team is now down to being able to fill its roster with players on minimum contracts, barring more larger moves.