re: Which Centers will be available this off-season?

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Let's get him a legit frontcourt mate

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We don't have the assets for that. Plus we shouldn't repeat the sins of the past like when they added Tyreke without being able to move Gordon. Asik is going to be a similarly tricky to move guy, you especially don't want to give up an asset to get his replacement and then be stuck with Asik. And honestly Asik has played well enough in his 19 MPG. We don't need to replace him as much as we need a better small ball center than Terrence Jones and Dante Cunningham. The solution to that problem might already be on the roster in Diallo. Hopefully next year he can be a 15-20 MPG player, then you'd only need 5-10 minutes of guys like Jones/Cunningham/Ajinca there instead of 25.

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why not buy a pick, then sign a guy you might actually want with that space?

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I already detailed that picks just don't get sold very often if at all any more, plus who's going to Brooklyn? They targeted RFA's this offseason because over paying players with structural salary reduction in place is the only way to get someone to agree to join a team that can't even start a proper rebuild for a few more years. If they trade Lopez they probably should do it for less protected future picks from a team they're betting will be down.

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why not just eat the cap space (assuming the new CBA doesn't change the "penalty" for coming in under the floor) and give your own players more $$?

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Because you are asset starved and that gives you no assets.

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why not keep that space open and take on someone else's junk later, for a better price (the Morey special)?

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You think Marks really wants to wait until 2019 to before he can say he added talent to the team? They get Boston's 1st and 2nd this year, say 21 and 51, and they get the Pacers 2nd if the Pacers make the playoffs, so 45+. Next year they have no picks 1st or 2nd. So between 2017 and 2018 if he's lucky he'll add a late 1st, 2 late 2nds which are almost always garbage, and might finally get an RFA who's team doesn't want to match. If he doesn't hit in RFA or find gold in a DLeauger, #21 might be his best bet for adding a worthwhile player over that 2 year span. #31 would increase those odds some, especially if he had a specific target in mind on draft night.

I appreciate the peer review from you and MM, but I really don't think I'm being unreasonable or overly hopeful here. There are some legitimate reasons why Brooklyn would go for this. I think they are in a unique set of circumstances that make them the only one, but it only takes one. If buying picks was such a no brainer, why do teams ever rent cap space for picks? The answer is because they don't see better value for their cap space than the picks.

Now if you want to make an argument that Brooklyn will get multiple offers of better picks to rent their cap space that will price Asik for #31 out of the market, or that they aren't trading Lopez and will try to sign some guys, I can see those as real threats to the plan, but if Brooklyn is trying to prep for a rebuild starting in 2019 when they get their own picks again, I'd be surprised if they didn't rent out cap space. The question is who will offer them more.

But the more I think about it, the Pels might be better off just waiting Asik out if he can stay healthy. I'd only try to move him if you needed the cap space for an upgrade move.

We have a center. His name is AD.