How to best build a contender this offseason?

[TheSundanceKid]

So obviously we're all excited for the offseason and many of us are debating various combos or scenarios to take a leap to championship level. The premise of this poll is that we will be trying to make that leap rather than build though the draft. Whether it be through FA or draft

So which route is better? Which route gives us the most flexibility to go forward and build a powerhouse? Which can help provide the best balance to our new contender?

1) Trade for 2 stars, keep the cap space - With the cap booming again next year Danny decides to skip FA this year and grab 2 legit stars using the Nets' picks, Smart, Bradley etc..

2) Waive all non-guaranteed. rescind QOs, sign 2 max FAs - Here we say bye to Sully, Zeller, Turner, Amir, Jerebko and Holland so that we can sign 2 max FAs (with less than 9 years experience in the league). Without waiving all these guys we can't create enough cap space. Unless we do salary dumps as well...

3) Trade for a star at draft time, sign a max FA in the summer - Use the Nets pick this year, or some of the others and maybe a player or two to trade for a star and then use that star to lure another in FA. Probably means you can keep Amir and Jerbko or re-sign Turner and Sully/Zeller

4) Gut the roster for 2 stars in trade, sign a FA and stick your middle finger up to the league - Get rid of them all. Package IT, Crowder and Bradley and the Nets pick to get Anthony Davis, then give Portland everything else for Damian Lillard and use cap space to sign Kevin Durant. Who cares about the rest of the roster? They're only going to be standing there anyway... Here, you can sign my nan for the vets min...


Personally I think Option 2 is the best. Capping ourselves out signing 2 max FAs is going to shred our front court and our depth. We'd lose 5 rotation guys. Trading for 2 stars would probably be too costly in assets and would mean we rely on FA to fill out the roster at a time when salaries are going to be inflated for a few years.

With Option 2 we can retain some of Bradley/Crowder/Smart/Nets picks and still get our 2 stars.
I see a lot of support on these boards for the 2 max FA route so I was wondering A) whether that is the general feel of the board and B) Why some people rate that as better than Option 2.

Cheers

[CFAN38]

Bottom line for all of these situations is that there is a major lack of "stars" available as FA or presumably in trade this offseason. For FA only Furant constitutes really being called a star. In trade I really don't see a team who is in a position to trade off a top 15 player in order to rebuild.

I personally think for all the talk this offseason will be one of calculated moves that improve the teams front court in the short term while maintaining future flexibility and drafting on long term potential and system fit.

[ThePaintedArea]

Bottom line for all of these situations is that there is a major lack of "stars" available as FA or presumably in trade this offseason. For FA only Furant constitutes really being called a star. In trade I really don't see a team who is in a position to trade off a top 15 player in order to rebuild.

Your point is well taken.  I'd add Horford to Durant; but neither of those guys is moving, I'd bet, and the pickings are slim.