Just playing around in the trade machine -- say for WCS and Omri Casspi -- and struggling to find combos I see as likely deal offerings for Danny Ainge. Here's what I mean:
Most likely to be traded: I see this list as Johnson, Jerebko and Zeller. But none of these players is of any meaningful value, but rather contract filler.
Least likely to be traded: I see this list as Smart, Brown, Bradley, Rozier, and Olynyk. I have a hard time seeing the Cs give them up, even in a deal for better players than the SAC fellas above (say, Noel), short of a true blockbuster.
I also can't really see the Cs trading Thomas or Horford. Pretty illogical.
That leaves:
Mickey, Jackson, Green: not very valuable
Young: starting to show some ability to go with that talent. Cs have spent a lot of time on him, and yet he doesn't have much value anyway.
Lastly.....
Jae Crowder: of course the Cs love Crowder. But I have to wonder when push comes to shove if he might be the most despensible of this group. He's certainly gained the most value of any veteran in the past year plus. He's very solid if undynamic player -- a pretty classic 3 and D type -- on an excellent contract. And he's a model citizen... a valuable element to a team with less locker room integrity than the Cs. And he's a touch fragile -- has missed a fair number of games on hustle injuries.
In other words, he's probably slightly overrated / overvalued. Some team may overvalue his overall package and intangibles more than they really translate to impact on the court.
I'm not saying the Cs are looking to trade Crowder. I'm simply pointing out that it's difficult to imagine virtually any player of value being traded from this team. And yet it's far from a finished product.
Maybe the Cs will sit tight this season and wait for the summer of 2017. But if they don't, I'm beginning to feel that Crowder may be the player of value the Cs would most likely part with, especially if a swing player comes back.
What do others think?