Kings Fans Planning To Greet Rudy Gay At The Airport

Rudy Gay will be flying into town tomorrow afternoon to meet with Kings brass. Pete D'Alessandro and Vivek Ranadivé are planning to pitch the virtues of Sacramento to Rudy, in hopes that he either opts into the remaining year of his contract or signs a longer term deal for bit less cash per year. They'll reportedly have reinforcements in tow in the form of Hall of Famers, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond, and plan to give Rudy a virtual tour of the new arena.

Retaining Rudy's services is at the very top of the King's to-do list this summer, as the small forward's decision will likely have an incredible impact on the complexion of the Kings' off-season and many seasons to come. D'Alessandro has spoken in the past about last season being used to 'recruit' Rudy. One could easily argue that Rudy's time in Sacramento, playing alongside an elite big in DeMarcus Cousins, was his most productive in the NBA. I assume that's exactly the argument Pete and Vivek plan to make.

The fact is however, that the Kings didn't win a ton of games last season. Much of their pitch will likely be centered around the future of Sacramento, and what Ranadivé and D'Alessandro are trying to build here. However, there is a fan-generated plan in the works to put one of Kings' strongest existing assets, the fans, on display.

Slap on a Kings jersey, grab a "Rudy STAY" sign, and get down to Sacramento International Airport's Jet Center (5885 Flightline Circle) at 1pm tomorrow to greet Rudy at the gate!! Remind Rudy what it means to be a Sacramento King and show him the kind of support/love he can expect for the rest of his career in the Purple and black.