I'd take a look at Favors. We might be able to buy low on him - he had a down year plagued by injuries and lost his starting job. One year removed from being a very productive player, though, and still only 25.
Favors is a good option, too.
The problem with Favors though is that he expires the same time as Bradley, so it doesn't really help you there. You'd still be faced with the same problem in 2018 as you would with keeping Bradley.
I wish I could make a farting noise.
Ainge is going to use his assets for stars imo. I also agree with him. Rozier, Crowder, Bradley are all being saved up for one big trade imo.
The premise of the thread (or at least this particular discussion) is that you've already landed Hayward. So you'd already have IT, Hayward, and Horford as your "stars," if you can call them that. At that point you're looking for the connecting pieces, not additional stars.
We're not going to have the salary to get another star on top of those three. The only real possibility would be an up-and-coming star under a rookie-type contract, like Porzingis for something like the Brooklyn pick, Crowder, and other assets. But that would change your whole outlook on team-building.
Unfortunately, I don't see us being a contender with IT, Hayward and Horford as our stars even though we'll probably be spending ~85% of cap on them. If we get the #1 pick, I think we draft Fultz and hope we can draft a star big man in 2018. If Fultz shows his star potential in his rookie season, I'd let IT walk rather than giving him MAX. If we don't get the #1 pick, I'd try to trade the pick plus AB and Crowder for Butler. He has 2 years on his contract so hopefully we could avoid luxury tax until Horford's last year. PG would probably be better but I think there is a good chance he'd be a 1 year rental.
While I disagree with those three not being able to make us a contender (I think that would ultimately depend upon the pieces Danny filled in around them and the development of Brown, Fultz, Smart, Rozier, Zizic, etc.), I completely agree about everything else you said, specifically the Fultz or bust/trade mentality and the hope that Fultz can make not paying IT a five year max a reality.
But that's pretty much what I was saying, too - with Al, IT, and Hayward going to be taking up so much of our cap, there's no realistic/economical way to try and pull in another max-level player, too.
Keep in mind a few points:
We will have a shot at a free agent next year, and then that's it. We are then over the cap for the foreseeable future. No use worrying about it.
Al Horford's contract is not forever. We will have to pay Bradley and IT starting after next year, and that overlaps Horford's deal for two years. This may be a very expensive couple of years, but if they pay the bill, management will bridge this core with the next core perfectly. Jaylen Brown and the two Brooklyn picks will be ready to assume starting roles.
At that point, Bradley and IT will probably be very moveable contracts, if the young players are ready. They will be 29 and 30 years old, at their peak, and have years left on their deals. I think it would be stupid to bail on one of those guys to save money for just a couple of years.