NBA Trade Rumors: Keeping Rudy Gay Would Serve Memphis' Best Interest

The NBA's February 21 trade deadline is fast approaching and there are still a lot of questions flying around, especially around one of the hottest subjects of the rumor mill, Rudy Gay. 

If the Grizzles are smart, they'll drop the rumors and keep Gay around. 

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Grizzles new management has been shopping their talented small forward around to avoid a short-term luxury tax and the money owed to Gay in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, which is $17.8 million and $19.3 million, respectively. 

Gay has been all over trade rumors in the last few weeks. According to ESPN.com, the Toronto Raptors have been interested in Gay since the 2012 NBA Draft and are still "seriously interested" in the 26-year-old high-flyer. They have been reportedly offering deals including Jose Calderon and big man Ed Davis. 

Reports from Yahoo! Sports indicate that the Phoenix Suns are also interested in Gay. Memphis hasn't said much regarding the situation, except that Jared Dudley and future first-round picks would have to be involved if a deal was going to be reached. 

While getting some draft picks and a few role players could be a big boost to the Grizzlies, sending away their most talented player isn't the answer. 

The ESPN.com report shown above indicates that many NBA GMs at the NBA's D-League meetings in Reno, Nevada said that the Grizzlies "might wait until the summer" to decide if they want to ship out Gay, who's averaging over 17 points and five rebounds per game this season. 

The Grizzlies are currently second in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference and finally have their "big three" of Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Rudy Gay together and healthy. Why pull the emergency brake on a good thing and send away one of the best players in the Western Conference?

Because the Grizzlies management has made it known that they won't simply trade Gay to clear cap room and that they have to get something to build off in return. The Grizzlies need to hold on to Gay and take a run at the Western Conference championship and a possible NBA Title.