The more I think about it, the more I feel that if we do lose Kyrie this summer, we're simply better off continuing to build with Tatum, Brown and hopefully 2-3 of Rozier/Williams/Smart/Memphis Pick.
Yeah it would kind of suck and wouldn't be ideal, but it could definitely be a lot worse. Basically go back into a semi-rebuild where we remain a playoff team but maybe not a contender. The hope would be that one of Tatum/Brown takes a big leap while the other at the very least can play close to all-star caliber.
Horford and/or Hayward would come off the books (or opt-out and re-structure) and cap space can get opened up again down the line.
If Kyrie is willing to stay, then certainly I expect Danny (and Kyrie) to make their case/pitch with AD in the summer (before Draft), but otherwise I'm no longer going to lose sleep on this. Whatever happens will happen and we'll just move forward.
If we keep Kyrie but AD still doesn't want to come here, then just move on and build with Kyrie, Tatum, Brown, etc. and wait to see if another potential star becomes available via trade (nowadays it seems like this happens a lot more often).
No one knows what's going to happen (not even Woj, Jackie Mac, Shams, Windhorst, etc.), so just enjoy the ride for now. Maybe an "underdog mentality" is where we truly thrive like we did last year and we're in that territory now seemingly.