Best Available Player for Ausar + Tobias + picks

[Laimbeer]

Ausar shot 20% from 10 feet to the three point line this season. He shot 64% on free throws. He's not shown a pulse on three pointers. Anything can happen, but he doesn't have any of the earmarks of a guy who can develop into an effective distance shooter.

What's his ceiling without a shot? Who's the most valuable player in the league who's 6'7 or less and doesn't shoot the three?

[Laimbeer]

With the Celtics about to have a $500million tax bill they are going to trade someone to get under the 2nd apron. I doubt they trade Jaylen Brown, but would you do some sort of combination including Ausar for him?

Probably not. I think Brown's cap hit would make things really tough and I'm not convinced he's enough of a "finishing piece" to do it. But I could see it being worth consideration depending on what the rest of the trade looked like.

A big part is you probably can't make it work financially without Tobias included and I'm not sure we're ready to "win now" without Tobias or a reasonable replacement at the four. If we sent out Ausar and Tobias and got Brown in, the 4 is basically toast.

Jaylen Brown is a better four than Harris at either end of the floor by a considerable margin.

[tmorgan]

With the Celtics about to have a $500million tax bill they are going to trade someone to get under the 2nd apron. I doubt they trade Jaylen Brown, but would you do some sort of combination including Ausar for him?

Probably not. I think Brown's cap hit would make things really tough and I'm not convinced he's enough of a "finishing piece" to do it. But I could see it being worth consideration depending on what the rest of the trade looked like.

A big part is you probably can't make it work financially without Tobias included and I'm not sure we're ready to "win now" without Tobias or a reasonable replacement at the four. If we sent out Ausar and Tobias and got Brown in, the 4 is basically toast.

Jaylen Brown is a better four than Harris at either end of the floor by a considerable margin.

That’s like saying Steph Curry is a better center than me. It’s true, but it still isn’t something you want to try.

[Wallace_Wallace]

It would be a pipe dream to get Jaylen Brown, Scottie Barnes or Evan Mobley (CLE probably won’t deal with a division rival), but Bam Adebayo would be the most realistic option. More pipe dreams:

1. Trey Murphy + CJ McCollum. Murphy would be a cornerstone and McCollum would be a one year rental (mature veteran to have on the team); I don’t think NOP agrees
2. JJJ + Scottie Pippen Jr. Detroit would be a better defensive team with those two; same, don’t think Memphis would bite

We could probably steal Josh Okogie from the Hornets for nearly nothing right now, that’s the first thing I would do before sending out the said trade package

[Wallace_Wallace]

I don't get this notion that Ausar is untouchable. Unless he learns to shoot -- and though I'm hopeful, the odds are against him -- he's not going to be a particularly good player. The value he brings on defense will be severely eaten into by what he subtracts on defense in that scenario, particularly in the postseason.

I partially agree. Say if I have Josh Okogie or Toumani Camara instead of Ausar on the Pistons, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I would love for Ausar to be better and become a player like Jaden McDaniels, Trey Murphy or Andre Iguodala (not as trustworthy in the clutch), but I don’t think that would happen. If his value is as high as some of us perceived, we definitely should use him to complete the roster to fit around Cade.

[Kalamazoo317]

It would be a pipe dream to get Jaylen Brown, Scottie Barnes or Evan Mobley (CLE probably won’t deal with a division rival), but Bam Adebayo would be the most realistic option. More pipe dreams:

1. Trey Murphy + CJ McCollum. Murphy would be a cornerstone and McCollum would be a one year rental (mature veteran to have on the team); I don’t think NOP agrees
2. JJJ + Scottie Pippen Jr. Detroit would be a better defensive team with those two; same, don’t think Memphis would bite

We could probably steal Josh Okogie from the Hornets for nearly nothing right now, that’s the first thing I would do before sending out the said trade package

Why would you dream about Scottie? I don't think he'd fit what we're building at all. And Bam is way more valuable than him, imo.

[Wallace_Wallace]

It would be a pipe dream to get Jaylen Brown, Scottie Barnes or Evan Mobley (CLE probably won’t deal with a division rival), but Bam Adebayo would be the most realistic option. More pipe dreams:

1. Trey Murphy + CJ McCollum. Murphy would be a cornerstone and McCollum would be a one year rental (mature veteran to have on the team); I don’t think NOP agrees
2. JJJ + Scottie Pippen Jr. Detroit would be a better defensive team with those two; same, don’t think Memphis would bite

We could probably steal Josh Okogie from the Hornets for nearly nothing right now, that’s the first thing I would do before sending out the said trade package

Why would you dream about Scottie? I don't think he'd fit what we're building at all. And Bam is way more valuable than him, imo.

I think Cade Cunningham would love to reunite with his former high school teammate, Scottie Barnes (who’s not a shabby defender in his own right). Of course Toronto, with Masai Ujiri, probably won’t agree to the stated trade package. Everyone of the players I mentioned are somewhat overshooting the value, so I’d be glad to be able to trade for anyone of them.

[Kalamazoo317]

Scottie is a fine defender, but far from elite, and doesn't bring much offensively as an off-ball player, imo.

[Kalamazoo317]

If the Knicks decide to overreact to their conference finals loss and do a big reset, I wonder if we could entice them with something like:

Tobias + Duren + Sasser + FRP for OG Anunoby

And then make a run at Myles Turner in free agency

(Pipe dream stuff for sure, but those are moves that I think would really get us somewhere if we could somehow pull them off)