I've advocated the idea that Courtney Lee may become expendable mid-season when Avery Bradley comes back. With salary cap rules and the Celtics facing the hard cap, it seems like it would be difficult to trade Lee with no other non-minimum salary players involved for a player who makes more than $6m/year. So, here are some bigs who are in the $4-6m range.
Zaza Pachulia, Atlanta, $5.25m
Jason Maxiell, Detroit, $5m
Luc Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee, $4.8m, signed through 2015
JJ Hickson, Portland (can veto a trade)
Chuck Hayes, Sacramento, $5.5m, signed through 2015
There are other players who fit the criteria that I left off, but arguably Lee for this level of talent is probably more realistic than schemes to trade for Josh Smith or Verejao. I'd be interested in the one guy who is probably the least available.
If this is the best you can do for a mid-season deal when January comes around, do you explore this avenue or do you wait and see who gets a buy-out after the trade deadline?