Gay may be challenged to find a team with enough cap space to beat the $8.8 million he would have earned by staying in San Antonio in 2018-19. San Antonio’s ceiling has lowered since news broke of Leonard’s impending trade request, and with that Gay’s situation changed drastically. He had appeared in the playoffs just once in his previous 11 seasons. Gay signed a two-year, $17.2 million deal with the Spurs in 2017, with a player option for this summer, presumably to add veteran depth behind Leonard on a team with championship aspirations. Still, Gay assumed a starting role in the playoffs, averaging 12.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 32 minutes a night during their five-game first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors.
