George Karl wants Rudy Gay to play power forward. Can it work?

One of the more interesting tidbits coming out of George Karl’s first post-practice press conference was the revelation that Rudy Gay would be playing some power forward for the Sacramento Kings during the second half of the season.

You can watch Karl’s full media session below.

It’s an interesting, yet not entirely unique idea. The Kings have talked about using Gay at power forward in the past, but to this point we haven’t seen it on any consistent basis.

It wouldn’t be a unique position for Gay, either. He played a lot of power forward this past summer with Team USA. Who was his center on that squad? DeMarcus Cousins.

Rudy Gay talked about potentially playing power forward after yesterdays practice.

We’ll know a lot more in the coming days. Does Karl plan on using Gay as his starting power forward, or just in small ball lineups? The Kings have been using Derrick Williams more than anyone else as their small ball four, and Gay would certainly be an upgrade in that role.

I’m a lot less excited about Rudy Gay as a long-term solution for the Kings at power forward, and it’s worth mentioning that Karl never said that would be the case. In fact, most of the Kings related rumors out there are suggesting that Sacramento has been actively looking for an upgrade at power forward. This tells me that Rudy Gay playing extensive minutes there for the rest of the season is clearly plan B. Plan A is to find an upgrade elsewhere.

Theoretically speaking, Gay has power forward size and length, but common sense would suggest that the Kings would take a step back defensively and on the glass if Gay takes Thompson’s spot in the starting lineup.

I have my doubts, but I don’t mind George Karl experimenting at this point. In fact, this is the best time to experiment: 30 games, low expectations, new system, training camp vibe, etc. This is when you change an 8-year NBA veteran’s position for the sake of trying something different.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t, but I rather have the Kings find out sooner than later.

And all of this should be taken with a massive grain of salt. We don’t know what Karl meant by his comments, but with reports circulating that Jason Thompson would like to be traded by todays deadline, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Rudy Gay start at power forward tomorrow night.

The next question is, if Rudy Gay starts at power forward, who starts at small forward?

Karl has already talked about finding consistent minutes for rookie guard Nik Stauskas. That could get ugly.

But if it’s Omri Casspi? Well, now you have my attention.

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