Staying the Course: Rudy Gay Contract Extensions

Word out of Yahoo is that Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies have reportedly reentered contract negotiations. The original deadline for extensions has already been passed, but the timetable was pushed back to Monday by league officials because so few 2006 draftees had gotten their paydays.

They're claiming that Gay is looking for 5 years and around $50-60 million. That's not small money, but it's certainly far more reasonable then some of the numbers previously thrown around. If Rudy were to get between $10-12 million a season, it's almost impossible not to see that as a pretty fair valuation of what he brings to the table.

One of the few 2006 guys to get extended is LaMarcus Aldridge, who has a contract between $60-70 million depending on incentives hit. If Rudy were to have a similarly structured contract for about $2 million dollars less, which is supposedly what he's asking for, I'd be pretty happy with the outcome.

To those who believe that there's no hope and Rudy is definitely planning on jetting to a bigger market, I'd like to note that these negotiations reopening is a definite sign of goodwill. After negotiations broke down, Rudy had no reason to come back to the table unless he was legitimately interested in being locked up in Memphis, especially since it seems highly unlikely that he wouldn't get a higher offer next season.

Anyhow, good news for a player that, I believe, has shown a lot of progress with his shot selection and understanding of his role within this new weapons-heavy Grizzlies offense.