Trade season is fascinating and predictable. Orlando went from building around the 30 year old Vucevic two weeks ago to whispering sweet nothings in Shams' ear about the Celtics (and other teams) interest in him. Reportedly the Hornets are interested in Vucevic as well...that was a nice touch.
My guess is that Boston and Orlando know exactly what it takes to get a trade done, probably down to each player and pick. If that is the correct read, we have a few weeks to see if the Hornets or someone like Golden State or even Toronto comes sniffing around. Base case is still no trade but it feels like the odds have definitely moved in the direction of the C's doing something to upgrade.
I know Danny hasn't made a midseason move in years, but I'd be really surprised if they don't make a fairly significant move. (Though I also thought they'd make a fairly significant move before the season started)
They have two healthy(or in Jaylens case healthy-ish) current all stars, a third guy in Kemba who was an all star last year and looks to be rounding into form, Smart coming back and as much depth at center as they'll likely ever have.
Not giving the team at least a better chance by adding now I think would be a huge waste. Who knows if these guys will still all be healthy, or in Theis case still here, next year if they wait till the summer to make a move.
I don't think there would even be many, if any, more options available in the summer to take on an expensive guy with the TPE. It would almost have to be a guy who's already signed thru at least next season. You'd have to almost rule out guys who are upcoming UFAs or RFAs this summer, since it'll be nearly impossible to take a guy in on a sign-and-trade and stay under the apron with Tatums max contract being added to the books.
For me, the reasons to use the TPE now heavily outweight the reasons to hang on to it until summer.