Ok, so I've been thiking about the current rumours going around along with some of the past deals that were reportedly attempted, then filled in the blanks. I've come up with a major shakeup trade that would actually make a LOT of sense given all that has been going around the last season or so.
1. Boston trades Paul Pierce and Avery Bradley to the New Orleans Pelicans for Eric Gordon.
2. Pierce refuses to play for NO (a non-contender) and they probably have no interest in somebody his age anyway, so NO buys out Pierces contract for the $5m he is guaranteed, and they clear $15M or so off their books PLUS end up with a talented young guard in Bradley who is on a great contract.
3. Pierce becomes a free agent and agrees to sign with the on the condition that they also get KG to come over.
4. Kevin Garnett decided he does not want to stay in Boston without Pierce and go through a rebuild/retool, so he agrees to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Clippers on the condition that they also sign Pierce.
5. Clippers trade Eric Bledsoe and either DeAndre Jordan OR Caron Butler's expiring contract to Boston in return for Kevin Garnett
6. Atlanta wants to trade Josh Smith him rather than lose him (an unrestricted free agent) for nothing, but for this to work Smith needs to agree to the deal, so it has to be somewhere he wants to play. Josh Smith has already stated that he'd like to play with Rondo in Boston so Boston offers Bledsoe along with a second asset (either DeAndre Jordan or Caron Butler's expiring contract) to Atlanta in return for Josh Smiith - this is probably the best package Atlanta will be offered that Smith would also agree to.
7. Boston now lacks a legit center with KG gone, so Ainge trades out Bass (or Lee), Jordan Crawford and possibly a filler to Phoenix for Marcin Gortat.
A) New Orleans picks up a talented young guard with elite defensive talent (Bradley) and gains $10-$15 million in cap space by buying out Pierce
B) Clippers get the startling lineup they desire (Paul, Pierce, Griffin, KG) and instantly become a contender, convince Paul to re-signs
C) Atlanta gets young talent and/or expring contract in return for Josh Smith, probably the best package they will be offered
D) Phoenix gets a few young talented players in return for a disgruntled guy who wants out anyway
E) Boston gets their starting lineup of Rondo, Gordon, Green, Smith, Gortat
It seems like this is pretty much a win for every team involved here, and seems to work in all of their favours. It's no secret that Boston have shown interest in both Smith and Gortat for some time now, plus the recent rumours (and Ainge's recent comments about wanting more scorers) means Gordon makes perfect sense too. Boston picks up an incredibly talented starting lineup that is an immediate playoff threat (and gets to keep Sully, Terry, Williams, Randolf, etc on their bench as well) while they now have nobody much over 30 on their starting lineup.
I've also considered the possibility of a deal with Washington for Emeka Okafor (rather than Phoenix for Gortat)
I'm not sure if all of this works out financially but it seems fairly feasible, and DA has already hinted that he's thinks there will be a significant shakeup. To me thsi all makes a lot of sense. Can anyone comment on whether something like this would work out? This is about the only way I can think of that we could:
i) Get much younger
ii) Still remain a playoff team for years to come
iii) Do both of the above with our current cap limitations