Here's the story so far, since PDA and Vivek took over operations (approx. 5 months ago):
PLAYERS LEAVING:
C. Aldrich
T. Douglas
J. Johnson
T. Evans
J. Salmons
C. Hayes
P. Patterson
PLAYERS ARRIVING:
B. McLemore (3 years remaining)
C. Landry (3 years remaining)
R. McCallum (2 years remaining)
D. Williams (1 year remaining)
R. Gay (1 year remaining)
Q. Acy (1 year remaining)
H. N'Diaye (expiring)
A. Gray (expiring)
L. Richard Mbah A Moute (swapped for D. Williams)
G. Vasquez (swapped for Rudy Gay)
HOLDOVERS:
D. Cousins (4 years remaining)
J. Thompson (3 years remaining)
T. Outlaw (1 year remaining)
M. Thornton (1 year remaining)
I. Thomas (expiring)
J. Fredette (expiring)
That's pretty substantial roster turnover in a very short period of time. At the end of a year, no more than 4 players will remain from the team they took over. It would already qualify as the most active season Petrie had as GM I think and we're not even halfway through the season yet. I really like how aggressive this front office has been. Changes needed to happen and they're making them. Maybe not the specific changes everyone wants, but you can't say they're just sitting on their hands waiting.
Mbah A Moute and Vasquez were acquired for meaningless assets essentially (Evans was leaving anyway, LRMAM cost us only 2nd round picks) and already they've been used to acquire some better assets in Williams and Gay. The only players we are currently committed to beyond the 2014/2015 season are Cousins, McLemore, McCallum, Landry, and Thompson. That hasn't really changed much since most of the pieces that got shipped out were short-term deals, but look at what has changed: in 5 months the roster has been completely rebuilt without over-committing any long-term salary. Williams and Gay will be expiring contracts next season as will Outlaw and Thornton, if they can't be moved sooner.
Say what you will about defense and ideal PGs and PFs, I think what we've seen here is the first step in a multi-year process and while it leaves the current roster with a lot of position-related question marks, it also gives us a reason to be excited about the future. McLemore isn't rotting on the bench behind Thornton this season. We just cleared out some playing time for McCallum after giving Vasquez, Jimmer and IT a chance to prove themselves. Cousins has already established himself as a legitimate franchise player. Williams is getting a chance to prove he's starting material and we have a legit shot-creator on the wing for once in Rudy Gay who gets a year and a half to see if he's part of the future or not.
The start of the 2015 season in the new arena is still the goal and we're set up pretty well for that right now. If we do win big in the draft we add another key piece to our lineup. We absolutely can pick the best player available right now knowing that we're not a black hole at any one position anymore. Regardless we'll have loads of cap space to work with to fill the remaining holes. In the meantime PDA is shuffling assets trying to make the chip pile a little bigger before we go all in. I was skeptical over the summer, but at this point I'm happy with the way this is going.