to the OP:
IMO every move except the thomas trade theoretically should have made the c's worse. danny dumped KG, PP, rondo, green, crawford, prince, hump, wright, bynum, the list goes on and on.
the truth is that the young players have developed ahead of schedule, and guys like crowder and jerebko have turned out to be a lot better than we thought.
hard to envision so many guys stepping up at once, it's remarkable how quickly danny has assembled a solid young team. if we can resign our free agents for cheap that helps offset the sting of losing draft position. we also have the brooklyn picks to fall back on, those should be VERY valuable, and we simply have a ton of assets for future flexibility.
we'll be alright.