Here's what I would do:
1. Amnesty John Salmons
2. Waive Travis Outlaw
3. Fire Keith Smart (sorry Demarcus)
4. Call Jerry Sloan and Nate McMillan, make them feel loved
5. Call Danny Ainge every day about Rondo -- see if he'll crack (Tyreke and Cousins are off the table but Whiteside, Thomas, Thornton, Jimmer and draft picks are available -- Tyreke might be included but they have to give us a first round pick too to make that deal)
6. Draft lottery results: top 3 = Call Ainge again and offer the kitchen sink special -- if we win outright, strongly consider keeping #1 and taking Davis but I don't think he's a franchise guy so it's not a given. I'd include him in a Rondo deal if we keep Tyreke and Cousins as well)
7. Possible trade targets (ie guys who I think might be undervalued by their current teams): Derrick Favors, Tristan Thompson, Eric Bledsoe, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin
8. If Rondo trade doesn't happen, explore trades for Marcus Thornton. One of the guys listed above possibly or a lottery pick in this year's draft. Inform Tyreke he'll be moving back to guard and should plan his off-season accordingly.
9. See who Utah or New York might give us for Jimmer. His value as a marketing commodity still exceeds his value on the court, but might not for much longer. Utah potentially has two picks in the 8-14 range this year and might part with one for the guaranteed ticket sales. Kendall Marshall or Cody Zeller would be good targets in that range.
10. See how badly New Orleans (ie David Stern) wants to unload Okafor's contract for a new buyer. Will they throw in the Minnesota pick?
11. Use our draft pick if it's not traded (Davis, Gilchrist, Barnes, Drummond, Robinson, P Jones, Sullinger, Beal -- in that order)
12. Kick the tires on Greg Oden -- Possibly offer him up to 4 years for less than 15 million total (or less years and less money -- depending on the market)
13. Call Sloan and McMillan again -- ask who they like as FAs this year, and who they like at PG in the league (who isn't untouchable)
14. If no Gilchrist or Barnes: Offer Batum 12-13 million a year and see what Portland does. It's overpaying but he's a core piece and we need a shooter/defender at SF. Portland already cleared out space for him though (damn them!) so they might match anyway.
15. Make Greene a qualifying offer -- match any contract up to 15 million total (not per obviously)
16. If no big men acquired through draft or trade, make Thompson a qualifying offer -- match any contract up to 15 million total (probably he's gone)
17. Other Free Agent Targets (depending on positional need post-draft and/or trades): Roy Hibbert, Gerald Wallace, Jeff Green, OJ Mayo, Eric Gordon (tough to pair him with Tyreke though and he'll get the max which puts us in a pinch for contract extensions so this is really only an option if Tyreke gets traded)
18. Hire Jerry Sloan or Nate McMillan
Players remaining from this year (unless they're part of a trade for a more desirable player):
Thomas
Evans, Garcia
Greene, Honeycutt
Whiteside
Cousins, Hayes
Players (most likely) gone from this year:
Fredette
Thornton
Salmons, Outlaw
Hickson, Thompson
Hickson is gone already (mercifully) and I don't think Salmons or Outlaw will be missed. Trading Thornton won't be a popular move I know, but I've seen enough this season to surmise that dreams of an Evans/Thornton back court are not going to pan out (my opinion of course). Thornton has a big contract but he's at least maximizing his value right now while Evans still has a ways to go and his trade value is plummeting (relatively of course, I think a lot of teams would still roll the dice on the former ROY if given the chance).
Jimmer is a bit of a quandry to me. I can see him being valuable off the bench but he doesn't have the skillset which is going to make him a franchise building block. He has a niche skillset which is a great fit for some teams and less so for others (think Doug Christie for instance who perfectly fit our team but couldn't stick anywhere else) I think he's more valuable to us as a trade chip and that value will only decrease the longer we keep him as the national spotlight drifts to other players who play in more visible markets.
And lastly, I like Thompson -- he's a serviceable bigman and a class act who's been forced to deal with some douche coaching personalities in his young career and has handled himself as a professional through all of it. But he's going to get more expensive and if he were going to lock down the starting spot he'd have done it by now. We can't go throwing $5-6 million at every serviceable bigman who looks our way every year, especially not with a lowered salary cap on the horizon. Petrie already locked us in to Hayes for better or worse and even though I'd rather have Thompson for the same contract, I really don't want both of them adding up to over $10 million for role-player production. Petrie has a bad reputation for doing exactly that though I'm afraid (I'm calling you out Shareef, Moore, Garcia, Beno, Salmons (the first time), Ostertag -- shame on you for taking advantage of the poor man)
Mainly this is about changing the team culture. If you're the type of guy to sulk or complain about your role, you need to go. If you can't fit into a structured offensive system you need to go. If you haven't managed to own the PF spot after 4 years of mostly terrible competition, you need to go. Tyreke has some issues with his game, but he's got too much upside to unload for pennies on the dollar and probably too little perceived value to get a fair trade. Cousins is obviously a stud and he can play either frontcourt position which gives us some options, but he also has holes in his game which can only be filled by a capable defender at PF or C. Whoever we get doesn't have to be a defensive powerhouse, but he does have to be able to stop layup drills.
There are so many different ways to go that it's tough to pick out specific lineups. One piece has to fall into place before all of the others will come together. Rondo/Evans could be a powerhouse defensive combo in the backcourt (though we'd need a shooting witch doctor and an unlimited supply of shrunken heads). If we have lottery luck, Cousins and Davis or Drummund would lock down the starting frountcourt for the forseeable future. Maybe we can pry a young stud like Favors, Thompson, or Seraphin from other rebuilding teams with needs elsewhere. Maybe we just bring in Okafor for a few years and worry about the position later.
Batum, Gilchrist, or Barnes would all slot into the starting lineup and give us a lot of what we've been missing at SF since Peja/Ron-Ron moved on. We need luck to get Gilchrist or Barnes though and Batum is already a candidate for most overpriced player this off-season so none of them is in the bag. Wallace could be a decent backup plan but he could also slip away while we wait for Portland to match an offer sheet to Batum. I can still see Donte Greene as the starting SF if we find studs at PG/SG and PF/C to fill out the rest of the lineup.
Greg Oden is a lottery ticket but there's not a lot of appealing free agents this year that would justify the money they'll demand on the open market (and there usually isn't in any year) so a lottery ticket might not be a bad investment. The way Petrie throws out money, paying a guy to sit on the bench rather than suck us out of close games could actually be an improvement (I'm only sortof kidding...Travis)
And lastly what we do about the PG position is going to take some serious brain power and I don't think it's a job anyone currently in this organization is capable of. We need outside help: we need Jerry Sloan or Nate McMillan. Jerry Sloan has groomed two of the best PGs of my lifetime. Nate McMillan is a coach for the US Olympic squad. These are guys who have strong opinions about what wins (defense and structured offense usually) and earn the respect of their players. The league is overflowing with talented PGs right now and some of them will probably be on the market either this year or the next year or the one after that. But if we set the other 4 positions right, we don't even need a big name manning the point. With a strong coach it might be to our benefit to find a moldable team guy instead. All we really need on this team is a guy who can find his teammates off a pick and roll without turning the ball over. The free egent list is stuffed with PGs who have Jeremy Lin breakout potential in the right system. In the draft this year I really like Kendall Marshall from UNC (get well soon, btw) who may go in the mid teens where picks are often for sale or can be obtained by trading away non-vital pieces. If nothing else, I think Isaiah Thomas has the energy and skill to handle the position for the time being.
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