Move over, NBA: Gay packs on the summer muscle

Like many of his peers, Rudy Gay wants his piece of the pie. But Gay doesn't want a mere standard slice. Dude wants a chunk.

So Gay is going big, or bigger, muscling up to 241 pounds this summer (he started last season about 222) so that he can start to wrestle with the NBA's big guys for his slice. Unless he wins a contract extension from the Grizzlies by Oct. 31, Gay will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2010.

"It's a business, and although I love Memphis and it has been home for going on three years, whether I'm here or not [in the future], I'm going to go on being me," Gay said Wednesday by phone. "I just felt like I needed to fill out my body some more to bang a little bit more. And injury prevention.

"I'm stronger in the upper body. I'm not going to guard Shaq, and I don't want to be Dwight," he added. "LeBron and Melo and all the guys that I go against ... eventually, I want my name to be in that mix."

In order to elevate to one-name status in the NBA at small forward, getting bigger looks like a good idea as long as you keep your quicks along the way. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are 6-foot-8, like Gay, but they weigh 250 pounds and 230 respectively.

Gay, even at his light weight, was at times sublime in July's USA Basketball mini-camp in Las Vegas, leading all scorers with 27 points in the intra-squad scrimmage. He made 11 of his 12 shots. He hit three of four 3-pointers.

Yet coming off his third season as a pro, more consistency and versatility would be good things. His 18.9 points and 5.5 rebounds a game were slightly off his 2007-'08 statistics.

"He can be a multi-dimensional, chess piece-type player," said Memphis general manager Chris Wallace. "He can shoot the longball, facing the basket off the elbows at 15 feet or so, he can stop, elevate and get off his shot. He can be a straight-line driver, or post up ... compete in all those areas."

There is room for improvement, and the bigger-is-better motif did not just come to Gay in his sleep. Grizzlies officials are on board. Team strength and conditioning coach Jason Biles is the chief architect behind Gay's re-design when Gay's not in his hometown of Baltimore visiting family or conducting charity work, as he will this weekend.

"When you become a big-league, cleanup-hitting small forward or shooting guard, you get to the [free-throw] line," Wallace said. "You're getting points, getting defenders in foul trouble and opponents into the bonus.That is the final frontier in being a great scorer. Most players like that are athletic, can handle in traffic, and have strength."

Gay averaged 4.4 free-throw attempts a game last season, just 55th in the NBA and low for a go-to-scorer. James (9.4) and Anthony (7.1) were there much more.

Simply throwing around a bunch of iron in the weight room, though, won't get it done. Gay has done that, although he said he tends to focus more on high repetitions rather than sheer poundage, seeking tensile strength rather than the ability to push a Peterbilt (or Shaq).

"Pull-ups, for example. At first, I maxed out at 10. Now, I can do 20 straight," Gay said. "It's the first time ever really going hard in the weight room. I do have days where I push around a lot of weight to get stronger so I can get to the basket."

It's great to be stronger if your goal is to get to the hole more. But it won't matter, though, if the ball doesn't make the trip with you. So Gay's primary on-court emphasis this summer has been ballhandling: "Pounding the ball a little bit harder. It's been less cardio and more skill training, just trying to get my handle right."

The Grizzlies may see another upside in Gay's upsizing. Wallace said he could play some power forward when coach Lionel Hollins goes with a small lineup and swaps Zach Randolph and/or Darrell Arthur out of that spot.

"Coach and I have actually talked a little bit about me playing the 4, kind of like Orlando with Rashard Lewis," Gay said. "Although I'm a natural 3, I've moved all over. I played a little point [guard] with USA Basketball."

The Grizzlies might seem more likely to work out an extension for Gay if they opt not to sign any free agents (they've been rumored to be looking at guard Allen Iverson), though adding someone like Iverson does not preclude the team from extending Gay. "We're a possibility to sign any free agent out there who hasn't signed yet, so who knows who we might sign before training camp?" Wallace said. "I wouldn't rule out anything."

This much is certain: If the Grizzlies' acquisition of Randolph works as team officials hope, he'll draw opposing defenses inward enough to create more space for Memphis guards O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley. That could lead to a bigger slice of the pie for Gay in more than one way.

"We've met with his representatives, and we have ongoing [extension] talks," Wallace said. "Those processes take a life of their own. To my knowledge there have only been two extensions in his [2006] draft class, [Portland's] Brandon Roy and Andrea Bargnani of Toronto. I've heard glowing reports about what he accomplished [with Team USA].

"I think it was a major advantage for him to participate. As management or part of coaching, you can harp [to players] that you need to do this or that, but a lot of times it's more effective to see what their peers are doing, the amount of time they spend ... developing their body. There is a cause and effect here."