I do not know if Hibbert will actually opt out of his contract and Bird already hinted that he is looking to play a more uptempo system
It could be a threat only, as I think he would prefer seeing how this team plays for 1 more year together with Paul George, which has played pretty well the past couple of years togher
They would have much salary space to improve in 2017 to fill out holes
With that said, I don't think Bird would trade Hibbert without much in return
I am not sure if Greg Monroe would fit in with Hibbert as well as LA would, if Hibbert wants "security" I can see Phil Jackson taking a shot at him and a vet min of Thabeet, McGee, and maybe Blatche as backup Centers
If we were able to trade Calderon, Tim Hardway JR, and Early, with our 2015 pick or other 2 1st rounders, it would give us about 10m more in cap space
I would not be surprised if The Lakers or Twolves offered a package for Cousins, with their #1 and #2 pick along with future draft picks, and we likely would need to use our #4 pick and 2 future #1's picks but maybe could get rid of Calderon, Tim Hardway JR, Early, and about 10m of cap space and fillers
I do not know if people realize but at this point, Greg Monroe isn't a lock if we offered the MAX to him, as there are not a lot of quality BIGS in this years FA
He could get options on other teams, leaving us little options outside of RFA's that we could test the market for