Sacramento Kings: Finding A Spot For Rudy Gay

Following his season-ending injury, Rudy Gay's decision on his player option looms large for the Sacramento Kings.  But does he still have a place within the team's new timeline?

While the start of the playoffs have taken center stage, the offseason has come for teams like the  Sacramento Kings.

Despite going 8-17 after the All-Star break, the Kings managed to inspire hope for their future in the second half of the season, thanks to the promise of their young foundation.  But now big decisions loom for the Kings this summer to keep their rebuild progressing in a positive direction.

Chief among those decisions will be whether Rudy Gay will stay in Sacramento next season.  Gay has full control over his future with the Kings as he holds a $14 million option for next season.

Well before the start of this season, Gay had informed the Kings that he intended to opt out of his contract in the summer.  However, that decision is now clouded in mystery after Gay ruptured his Achilles in mid-January.

In the wake of his injury, Gay has revealed that the decision over his player option isn't as much of a sure thing as it once was, which is no surprise considering the gravity of his injury.

kings

A Royal Pain 1 dSacramento Kings Report Card: Kosta Koufos

More headlines around FanSided:

1 d - Sacramento Kings Report Card: Georgios Papagiannis2d - Sacramento Kings: Rudy Gay Gives Video Update On Rehab2d - Sacramento Kings Report Card: Ben McLemore3d - Who Should The Sacramento Kings Build Around On Offense?5d - Sacramento Kings Report Card: Langston GallowayMore News at A Royal Pain

As James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area noted earlier this week, Gay will have until June 10 to make his decision to exercise his option for next season.

While the Kings have no choice in the matter, the question that's now staring at the Kings is whether Gay fits in with the new-look squad should he elect to exercise his option.

Things have obviously changed radically for the team since Gay went down with his injury.  They were a team built around DeMarcus Cousins, who was shockingly traded to the New Orleans Pelicans nearly a month after Gay's injury.

Now with Cousins gone and with their rebuild under way, fitting in a soon-to-be 31-year-old Gay, who is coming off a career-altering injury, would be a bit of a challenge for the Kings in a couple of key ways.

Before his injury, so much of Gay's game was based on his athleticism, even at this stage of his career.  As a result, Gay saw time on the floor playing as a small ball power forward, which gave him the ability to feast off mismatches at a higher rate.

More from Hoops Habit

This is pure speculation at this point, but that might be the position where Gay primarily slots in for the majority of his time on the floor once he returns from his injury.

If that would be the case, the Kings face the dilemma of juggling rotation minutes in their frontcourt revolving around players like Gay, Skal Labissiere and Anthony Tolliver, all three players who need playing time for different reasons.

Without falling further down that rabbit hole, what's simple through all this is that the Kings will have to do right by Gay if he decides to stay for another season.

Their ongoing rebuild would give the Kings some slack to help ease Gay back on the floor once he does return.

However, the Kings will have to be fully prepared that it'll be done to help rehabilitate his career and knowing full well that they won't recoup any value, no matter how successful his recovery and ensuing return will be.

First things first, though, will be Gay's decision on his player option.  From there, the onus will be on the Kings to game plan from there, with or without him.