Bring Gay off the bench?

He's been in the NBA for a near decade and has never done either of those things, with his athletic ability declining and his already low basketball IQ I don't think his defense is going to get better nor will his decision making. That's not on the coach coaches should not be teaching effort they have other things to worry about.

And since he was in the league he always was used as a scorer and known for his ability to create for himself.
Effort matters and effort is directly related to coaching.
Why is IT serviceable on the defensive end right now?
Why has Harkless resurrected his career in Portland?
Why is Crowder suddenly one of the best perimeter defenders?

You aren't getting what I'm saying. IF you're going to propose a trade, you need to say why the other team would even consider it. At this point, you're one step away from saying we'll trade Ben for Lebron. Hey, it's not good for Cleveland but that's irrelevant.

Because he's always had elite quickness and has unlimited energy.Crowder/Harkless were always decent players who played on teams who had better guys at there position at the time.

IT always had the tools to be solid on D. We agree on that. But as a King the complaints about his D were valid.

Crowder was ok in Dallas, but no elite wing defender.

Harkless was buried on the bench and his attitude was questioned.

They all changed their mindset and improved their effort.

And like the three players I mentioned Gay has all the tools to be at least decent on the defensive end and to be effective on offense when playing alongside Rondo and Cuz.
Why should I believe, that Gay is unable to change his playstyle, when the NBA gives you examples every year for players, that do just that?

It's all in his head. Now if Gay had some kind of star antics and would conplain in public, that he needs the ball more or would spend too much energy on D to carry our offense, than I would be worried.
But Gay even admitted, that he is not satisfied with the way he plays right now.
So there seems to be a chance, that he knows, that he needs to adjust.

It's up to Karl and his staff, to show him excactly what we need from him.

Your comparing two wings who needed more opportunity to Rudy who has had close to 10 years to prove he can be consistently decent on the defensive end and has not, he's been traded TWICE cause of it and still comes back this year and plays with no effort on D and is chucking up terrible shots he's always chucked up. There's a big difference between guys who need playing time to showcase there skills and guys who have got playing time and been exposed in certain areas. I agree with you 100% it's all in his head cause if Rudy had the drive and desire to be great Memphis would have been competing for championships for the last 4-7 years instead they only managed to advance (not once but twice) without him.\

Can Rudy Gay play better and can we make the playoff with him sure that's highly possible but I think if we could get solid role players in return for him I would do it.

Do I compare these players? All I wanted to point out, is that playstyles and effort levels can change and that's most likely related to coaching.
I know your assessment on Rudy Gay and you may have solid arguments, but I tend to disagree.
I don't know, if it's worthwile to exchange arguments once again, but the narrative that Gay was traded twice, because he is chucker with questionable effort and made his teams worse sounds wrong to me.

The Memphis-Toronto trade was mainly about financial reasoning. Gay struggled after his injuries and the Grizzlies felt, that their big guys needed a bigger role. But as a Grizzlies follower I can say, that after this trade, the Grizzlies didn't become a better team. They started the year great, fell into a slump and got back on track after the trade. But to blame this all on Rudy is exaggerated. In fact the Grizzlies searched for a solution at SF ever since and lacked a player, that can create his own shot from the wing. Out of desperation they even added Jeff Green, who is more or less a poor mans Rudy Gay.
Sadly the Grizzlies are a one dimensional team and got crushed in the playoffs because of it. Take away their inside game and they are doomed. This is excactly the situation I was referring too, with my first post in this topic. Smart teams keep their talent, despite a diminishing role. But the Grizzlies were unwilling to spend so much money for Gay in a smaller role.

Now Toronto was different, because the Gay trade was idiotic for Toronto from the start. Add Gay to a roster with DeRozan, Lowry and Ross in the middle of the season, without any chance to built chemistry or assign roles on offense and defense?

For me the narrative about Gay is as shallow as the Dallas-Rondo or Villain-Cousins debate. It's easy to blame Gay, but Gay is only one part of the story.

Right now I'm very reluctant to think about trade scenarios, because I think the biggest need of this franchise is stability and trust. Gay is a very talented NBA player.
I would prefer to see, if he is able to adjust over trading him early in the season for players with less talent.

You make valid points I will see how the season plays out with Rudy and hopefully the Kings can make to the playoffs with Rudy if not this has to be the absolute last year of the experiment in my eyes.

How about just playing him at the 3 instead?

It's not how many minutes he plays out of position, it's which minutes he plays out of position.

I'd like to start Casspi at the 3, and Marco at the 2. It spaces the floor a lot better on offense, giving boogie some legit options out of the double team.

Rondo
Marco
Casspi
WCS
Boogie

KK
Acy
Gay
Curry