A star, a star, half of our world for a star??

I am not totally sure that the Cs need to get a star player because I believe that star players are more than likely drafted and not traded for.
Not sure I can name the last young star (guys like the Cs seem to want) that was traded for at a trading deadline.

Also, the Cs have some guys now who are on the verge of becoming stars in the NBA. Some of which were traded for, but before they
were as good as they are now (Thomas and Crowder).  And, some were drafted (Bradley, Smart and Brown).  The key here is that all five
of these guys have developed so much under Stevens and his staff that I would be happy to take this approach if it means that we can
keep our current core together.

I have really gotten to like the idea of keeping the two Nets picks and would only give up one of them for Cousins since this guy is a lot
of things that could fit in great in Boston.  He is still young enough to get even better with Stevens, he is under a great contract for a while,
he would have lots to prove with a new team that already has a chance to win much sooner than the Kings, he is the best or the second
best center in the league, etc.

No way would I give up either of the Nets picks for Butler, George, Lopez, etc or anyone else at this point.

Now this is not to mean that our 2016 team does not need to get better by the trading deadline (rebounding mostly) for us to continue
to make yearly progress in the rebuild that started when Pierce and Garnett were traded.   There are many guys who are available to
possibly help us this year who are still young, under some sort of reasonable contract, and will not cost either of the Nets picks or
core members of our current team.

We all know that acquiring any such guys is a gamble of some degree, but so was signing Horford for max salary a gamble last summer.

Butler and George are two players , both in their prime (27 or younger I think) who can get their shots at any time.

something this team needs to go along with IT perhaps more than rebounding, IMO.

to get either WILL cost Danny a player in the rotation now AND the Nets pick next year.

maybe I have a higher opinion of how much better Butler and George are than some of our current players.

Wide,

I agree. I don't think Butler or George will allow us to compete with the warriors/spurs/cavs, especially since we would likely have give up part of our core in addition to draft picks. Cousins might be a guy who could put us in contention, but he could also bring us down in flames. The current team we have has a legit shot at the ECF, especially if we upgrade on a smaller scale as you suggest, and get some reasonably priced rebounding help. Further, if LeBron is injured,  we could reach the finals. Thus, while we actually contend, Danny could use the picks to quietly and patiently draft the team that is ready to take over as SF/SA/Cleveland inevitably age and lose players.

All that being said, people do get all stars in their primes via trade. Harden is one example. You can also get stars in their prime via free agency, a la KD and LeBron. Fortunately for us, all team building paths are open to Danny. It's a good time to be a Boston sports fan....

WideCycle

A lot of truth in what you say. Patients maybe our best trading partner.

112288

Shamrock,

Good catch on your part with Harden being a young star player who did go to Houston by way of a trade.
I completely forgot him.

Relating to your mention of free agent stars, with the new CBA allowing free agents to now get much, much bigger pay raises by staying with their current teams I am guessing that far fewer free agent star players will be changing teams this summer compared to last year.  Not sure that we would have Horford if the current CBA had been in place last summer as an example.