Bay Area Sports: Ranking the Top 30 Players

Nov 6, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) goes up for a layup between Houston Rockets guard Marcus Thornton (10), forward Trevor Ariza (1), guard James Harden (13) and center Clint Capela (15) during the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Houston Rockets defeated the Sacramento Kings 116-110. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

#15 – Rudy Gay, Sacramento Kings

Rudy Gay isn’t the primary scoring threat on the Kings, but he’s a darn good one anyway. In the 2014-2015 season, Gay finished with over 20 points per game for the third time in his career, ending the year with a career-high 21.1 points per game. When injuries around him forced him to step into the primary man role, he responded very well. Gay even became a worthwhile facilitator last season as well, as he dished out a career-high 3.7 assists.

Gay has been a big time threat everywhere he’s gone. He’s averaged at least 18 points per game in every season since his second year. He’s been one of the top-two scorers on each team he’s played on in that span.

During the 2014-2015 season, Gay surpassed 20 points in 46 of his 68 games, including one of his three career 40-point games. He was the Kings’ leading scorer 28 times, including 18 times when the Kings’ superstar Cousins was on the floor. He picked up the slack by being the high scorer in 10 of the 23 games that Cousins missed.

Even with a new look to the Kings’ roster, the team will still be looking for Gay to step up and have some big games to lead the team to a new level. He’s gotten off to a bit of a slow start, at least by his standards, but he is certainly talented enough to turn his game up.

Next: The Mack Attack