Will Rudy Gay be the one who got away?

Although he’s never donned a Miami Heat uniform, Rudy Gay has found himself linked to the Miami Heat for years. He travelled with Alonzo Mourning and Erik Spoelstra to Haiti in a relief effort in 2010. He was reportedly interested in joining the Heat in August 2016 and earlier this summer.

But unfortunately, the Heat apparently did not reciprocate that interest. And here’s a devastating paragraph from the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, one that looks ridiculous after Gay lit up Miami for 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field while Kelly Olynyk looked befuddled on defense.

For those who wondered, the Heat opted for Olynyk instead of Rudy Gay because: 1) It considers Olynyk the better player. 2) It had more concerns about its power rotation than small forward. 3) It has some questions about Gay, including whether he would be a good fit and his January ruptured Achilles.

Did the Heat make a mistake letting a dynamic scorer who was interested in signing with Miami go to the Spurs?

Based on last night’s game, it seems like Miami overpaid for Olynyk and could have gotten a much more dynamic scorer in Gay. But on the other hand, why would Miami sign a 31-year-old who played just 30 games last season (and teams seemingly improve after he leaves, as occurred with the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors) when James Johnson just had a fantastic 2016-17 season for the Heat and was willing to re-sign? Why sign Gay when the Heat are trying to develop Justise Winslow into a jack-of-all-trades player for Miami?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.