A surprise team with cap space could emerge to offer Rudy Gay an eight-figure-a-year deal, but the paths to a few destinations Gay has been connected to are drying up.

In NBA free agency, deals getting done by one team can have indirect effects on the plans of another. Here are a few ways movement and meetings around the league are impacting the Thunder:

-Gay met with the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. That was before they agreed to a sign-and-trade with Atlanta and Denver to acquire forward Danilo Gallinari on a reported three-year, $65 million deal. Gallinari's deal plus Blake Griffin's reported $173 million mega deal leaves no salary cap room for the Clippers. Gay could sign for the mid-level exception ranging from $5.2 million to $8.4 million, but he met with the Thunder on Sunday knowing it could only offer him the mid-level and left town without a deal in place. Gallinari played 62 percent of his minutes at power forward and 37 percent at small forward last season, per basketball-reference.com – positions Gay shuttled between for the Kings last season.

-Gay could be a Utah target if Gordon Hayward ends up in Boston. Hayward, a small forward, has reportedly agreed to sign with the Celtics, but his agent, Mark Bartelstein, told the Boston Globe there was no final decision yet. But even if Hayward leaves Utah, the Jazz just signed forward Joe Ingles to a four-year, $52 million deal, and only have about $8.9 million in cap space to offer.

-Gay wasn't planning on returning to Sacramento, as he declined the $14.2 million player option on the final year of his contract to become a free agent. But the Kings, who said in May they'd welcome Gay back, need help at small forward and have around $12 million in cap space.

-Gay has been linked to Miami in the past year. He owns a home in Miami and if Hayward goes to the Celtics, the Heat could be a destination for Gay. Miami will have ample cap space – possibly as much as $34 million since Chris Bosh was waived on Tuesday.