It wasn’t Gay’s arrival in Toronto that prompted four straight playoff appearances, or the four winningest seasons in franchise history, or the team’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals…it was Rudy Gay’s departure that triggered this success. What truly is amazing though, is that outside of the core of Lowry and DeRozan, you can track the majority of the Raptors’ success directly to the fateful day of December 9 th, 2013 when Rudy Gay was sent to Sacramento. Sacramento Trades to Toronto: Chuck “Booty” Hayes, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons, and Greivis Vasquez Toronto Trades to Sacramento: Quincy Acy, Rudy Gay, and Aaron Gray He played just 51 games in a Toronto uniform, with none of them coming in the playoffs, but Gay was a key in creating the Raptors as we know them now. What better place to begin than the trade that started it all. At the time that Rudy Gay (along with Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray) was banished to Sacramento the Raptors were floundering with a record of 7-12. 368 winning percentage was good enough for 22 nd in the NBA and the conversation was starting to turn quickly towards tanking. While the Raptors were struggling, on paper they still had enough talent to make the playoffs. The atrocity of the Eastern Conference also helped, as their record was still good enough for 9 th in the conference.
