now this team has no choice to rebuild in the trade market

[Jon]

First of all, just because the FA crop has dried up does not mean we should just make poor trades. It is much better to sit on cap space for a year and wait for 2013, than take on long term deals for mediocre players that will hinder us for years.

The big problem with thr Big Three is that we're going to have to take on comparable money to their salaries, and in exchange we'll only get mediocre-to-good players in return. And we can't afford to give role players (even if it is a few of them) that kind of money. Building a bench in thr NBA before you get your stars is like putting the cart before the horse. All it will do is ensure we never have enough space to ever get a star.

Instead, ride this out. Se where we are FA wise come this summer. If Danny thinks he can nab someone good, renounce KG and Ray and make the move. If not, wait till 2013, and do one of three things:

1) Suck for a year, develop young talent, and get a good lottery pick.

2) Bring back Ray and KG for one final hurrah to placate the fanbase. Get them on cheaper deals that would be easier to trade if we want.

3) Sign the best FA of 2012 (the good, but not great ones) to front loaded contacts like NJ did a year ago. Assuming the new CBA allows that, that could be a good way to get good talent, but keep cap space.

[Chris]

or we could rebuild through the draft


or we could rebuild in the FA after

rebuilding in the draft will take years like sonic/thunders years

Funny you mention the Sonics/OKC. Sam Presti used cap space to acquire multiple draft picks, which he then turned into the right mix of players to contend for a championship.

If there's a blueprint on how to properly use cap space, that's it.

Presti was lucky that he had cap space at the right time and a fanbase in OKC which accepted a complete (re)build, not to mention that he got Durant with the #2 pick to build around. Ideal circumstances.

Unless you want to recreate the housing bubble and the resulting financial crisis to force teams to panic and overpay just for the sake of cap relief, you won´t see anything similar for a long time.

Oh, I absolutely think the same kind of selloff will be happening.  After next season the luxury tax becomes a MAJOR issue.  Teams are going to be desperate to stay below it, and cap space will be a very valuable asset.

[Lucky17]

or we could rebuild through the draft


or we could rebuild in the FA after

rebuilding in the draft will take years like sonic/thunders years

Funny you mention the Sonics/OKC. Sam Presti used cap space to acquire multiple draft picks, which he then turned into the right mix of players to contend for a championship.

If there's a blueprint on how to properly use cap space, that's it.

Presti was lucky that he had cap space at the right time and a fanbase in OKC which accepted a complete (re)build, not to mention that he got Durant with the #2 pick to build around. Ideal circumstances.

Unless you want to recreate the housing bubble and the resulting financial crisis to force teams to panic and overpay just for the sake of cap relief, you won´t see anything similar for a long time.

Oh, I absolutely think the same kind of selloff will be happening.  After next season the luxury tax becomes a MAJOR issue.  Teams are going to be desperate to stay below it, and cap space will be a very valuable asset.

Yep. Luxury tax payers for consecutive years will be extremely desperate to shed payroll. Ainge realizes this, I'm sure.

[Casperian]

or we could rebuild through the draft


or we could rebuild in the FA after

rebuilding in the draft will take years like sonic/thunders years

Funny you mention the Sonics/OKC. Sam Presti used cap space to acquire multiple draft picks, which he then turned into the right mix of players to contend for a championship.

If there's a blueprint on how to properly use cap space, that's it.

Presti was lucky that he had cap space at the right time and a fanbase in OKC which accepted a complete (re)build, not to mention that he got Durant with the #2 pick to build around. Ideal circumstances.

Unless you want to recreate the housing bubble and the resulting financial crisis to force teams to panic and overpay just for the sake of cap relief, you won´t see anything similar for a long time.

Oh, I absolutely think the same kind of selloff will be happening.  After next season the luxury tax becomes a MAJOR issue.  Teams are going to be desperate to stay below it, and cap space will be a very valuable asset.

Of course, even without the new CBA, it´s only a matter of time until we have a new financial crisis. There always is a crisis.

But what about the talent? This strategy becomes pointless without the top talent to build around. If you swap Durant for any young, talented SF, let´s say Jeff Green, OKC looks like a fringe playoff team.