NBA, Celtics trade rumors: The latest on Rudy Gay and Ray Allen

Rudy Gay has been in the league since 2006 and Danny Ainge has had multiple opportunities to acquire the gifted scorer over the years. It just doesn’t seem like Ainge is a fan.

Gay went eighth overall in the 2006 NBA Draft and the Celtics owned the No. 7 pick that year (the C’s traded out of the seven spot and wound up taking Rajon Rondo at No. 21 that year). Gay was a free agent in 2010 (the Celtics didn’t bite, but they were strapped for cash at the time), was on the trading block in February of 2013 (the Celtics didn’t have many assets at the time and Gay was eventually dealt to the Raptors), and was on the trading block again just 10 months later – traded from Toronto to Sacramento (the Celtics were in full rebuild mode at the time and had little use for high-priced veterans).

It’s possible that Aingestill likes Gay’s game and that there just hasn’t been a good time for him to land in Boston, as laid out above, but you’ve got to think that the Celtics’ boss would only be interested in a swap for Gay if he was giving up peanuts (second round picks, bench players). Gay had been mentioned in a Celtics trade scenario this past summer that was focused on Blake Griffin. Here’s what the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney wrote on July 14:

“The likely target for the Celtics, according to front-office sources, is Clippers forward Blake Griffin. The Clippers have been weighing trading Griffin all seasonand the possibility of a three-team package involving Sacramento sending Rudy Gay to the Clippers has emerged. The Celtics would give up some number of their upcoming draft picks, but opposing front-office members say they don’t want to give up either Brooklyn pick Boston can own in the next two years.”

As we’ve laid out time and timeagain in this space – don’t expect the Celtics to make a blockbuster trade until at least December. Hope springs eternal with nearly every franchise this time of year, the Kings especially. Sacramento is hoping Dave Joergercan be a DeMarcus Cousins whispererand part of his job description surely entails getting Gay to rebound from his worst scoring year since his rookie year.

The days grow short when you reach September

It’s becoming increasingly likely that Ray Allen will officially retire as he has not yet signed with an NBA team despite plenty of speculation throughout the summer. From the Hartford Courant on Aug. 8:

“[Allen] expects to make a decision by the start of training camp, rather than look to join a team in midseason.

“‘At the start of the year, if nothing pans out, then basically I’ll retire,” Allen said.”

NBA training camps open on Sept. 26.