Which Centers will be available this off-season?

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The top 3 would do.

NOFOX brought up in the Barnes thread that he had seen Willie Cauley Stein on the trade block. I don't know how much he'd cost to get, but he's still on his rookie deal and last year he had a better Rim DFG% than Noel. I'm not saying he's better than Noel, but since he'd be 4 times cheaper it's probably a better value.

With us tying a good bit of money to Asik and Ajinca, I doubt we'll spend a large amount of money on a center.

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I want Gordon Hayward

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Yes please.

Trade for boogie. Everyone wants that

tend to agree, but w/ all the holes, it's tough to say.

wing
big next to Davis
creators/ball handlers
shooting

some overlap in some of these areas (shooting) but ideally you find a wing that can play up when needed next to Davis. Barnes is an example of that type of guy. the problem is everyone in the league wants a wing like that (see Barnes/Parsons $$$)

but even a guy like Pondexter can have a huge impact. i've been railing on a lack of wings for a very long time- it's a shame the Pels weren't able to do more to develop/find them over the past 5 years.

re: Asik- to his credit, he looks much more spry so far this season. he has regularly looked like a 4th big. i still have doubts about him in many matchups (definitely including games in April/May) and if he can avoid injury/sustain play. but credit where it is due- if he can give them a decent 15MPG on most nights, he's doing his job.

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holiday but he solves a ton of problems if he's ready to go and if he's ready to play 35 minutes

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i agree. he makes supplemental pieces (like Moore/Hill/Frazier) look better. still deficiencies up front and in the big wing areas.

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shooting and active perimeter defense should help cover the deficiencies at protecting the rim

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i do like how they are more active in passing lanes---limited rim protection and shaky DREB in some lineups means you have to compensate in other areas.

bottom line for me, they just need more wing size. said it another thread, but they seem to have too many guys who are best playing "up" a spot on offense, but can't do that on defense due to a lack of size/strength

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is Goodwin waivable if needed?

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i would say so. he has some obvious holes, but i would prefer to stretch Ajinca before dumping a 22 yo SG on a cheap team option deal

asik at least isn't an on court negative and he does have a role even if most fans don't see it. i don't see a reason to burn an asset to move him at this point, especially since there's such a down market for what he can do

I think if they can figure a rotation where holiday stays on the floor and moves to the two when needed (can't play Frazier anywhere but at point) the defense should improve and he's a way underrated shooter. IF Evans gives you anything he can carry the second unit on offense and hopefully cut davis' minutes some. to me the black hole is ajinca and they just don't have anyone that can hold down the lane without fouling or getting hopelessly out of position

anything they could get in the middle would be an upgrade
right now they need roster spots and I agree with corndeaux that Moore/hill/Galloway/Jones are all the same player...they can't play down a position on defense and it's killing the opportunity to build a lead. Every game we've seen so far has been winnable if they could simply build a lead and let Davis take it home. As it is nearly all possessions have been such high stakes and you can't play like that night after night

they've got to figure out a way to take some pressure off the middling shooters and the best way to do that is get stops. The best place to get stops is on high percentage looks in the paint and they can't do it as constituted

You don't think Brooklyn as asset starved as it is wouldn't take on Asik for the #31 pick in a supposedly deep draft? If they move Lopez they should have $60 million in cap space. I doubt they'd be in play for any significant free agents so what else are they going to do with that cap space besides rent it? It's unlikely that anyone is dumping any of the bad contracts that just got signed this year, most teams try to make it work rather than cut bait after just one year, so that limits the supply of contracts competing for the Nets' cap space.

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Again, if they can buy a similar pick for 2 million, why buy it for essentially 30 million?

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When was the last time a pick sold for cash? You used to always have some 2nds sell and at least every other year a 1st. The new CBA cut that out by changing the limits on cash sent and received from per transaction to per year. I'm almost positive a 1st hasn't sold under the new CBA and I don't even recall a 2nd being sold. Even if 1 team was willing to blow their annual amount on trading cash for a pick, the other team has to be willing to do the same as well. That one transaction has potential impact on other transactions during the year. It's no longer as simple as buying and selling a pick, it needs to fit within your strategic planning for the year.

Also, the Nets don't get to add that $60 million under the cap towards profit, they have to hit the salary floor or the league will make them. So why spend part of your operating budget to buy a pick when you have unused salary cap space you're going to be forced to use anyway? $2 million vs. $10 million isn't a no brainer when the $10 million is "free" and the $2 million costs you $2 million.