Then a curious thing happened last summer: The Spurs and Grizzlies, two of the NBA's most reliable franchises, decided to bet on these historically unreliable players. A decade ago, both were highly valued draft prospects and then quickly productive rookies, averaging 20 a game for a season early in their careers.īut, their statistical accomplishments were never accompanied by team success on their original squads - Evans ultimately floundering within the Sacramento Kings' perma-dysfunction, and Gay predating (then failing to find a role within) the Grit 'n' Grind-era Grizzlies.īoth bounced around as awkward fits on subpar squads - Gay on the Toronto Raptors and Kings, and Evans on the New Orleans Pelicans and Kings again - before largely being written off as players of ultimately minor NBA consequence, the infamous kind of empty-calorie stat-stuffers that fans of rebuilding teams dread seeing their franchise investing in. A fascinating pair of test cases in this philosophy have emerged early on this season in Tyreke Evans and Rudy Gay.