Gay, a University of Connecticut product, was taken eighth overall in the 2006 draft to the Houston Rockets, seven spots after the Raptors selected Andrea Bargnani instead. Almost." 'I'm not coming here to score a lot of points, I'm coming here to make my teammates better, I'm not coming here to lessen anybody's role, I'm here to make this team better.'-Raptors forward Rudy Gay I get on because he didn't draft me but it's almost like another draft.
"It's just good to be wanted and to start over in an organization where they reached out, to try to get you," Gay said. 22 for Toronto - the 26-year-old was at ease with the media and the 100 or so Air Canada Centre employees who showed up for the event, held just a couple of hours after he had landed in the city.īright neon signs throughout the arena concourse read: "The Toronto Raptors Welcome Rudy Gay." Gay was slated to be in the Raptors' lineup Friday evening when they played host to the Los Angeles Clippers.ĭressed in a crisp grey suit - he'll wear No. The new Raptor was introduced to the media at a packed news conference Friday, two days after the trade that sent point guard Jose Calderon to Detroit and forward Ed Davis to Memphis for the explosive small forward that Colangelo has long coveted. "When I first spoke with Rudy the other night after the trade had been consummated, he asked me point blank: 'Why didn't you just draft me in the first place?' "I like when players call me out occasionally," Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo said, grinning. Rudy Gay's arrival in Toronto was almost like being drafted - six-and-a-half years late.