Having Austin back actually could help the defense if it means LeBron could exert more effort on that end. Obviously not a solution, but could help.
better offense also = less playing defense in transition. missing a guy who was playing like reaves is kind of a big deal. like if sengun goes down for houston, they're going to struggle.
The team was trending down defensivley with Austin before he got injured. They were something like 24th in the 10 or so more games. It wasn't getting any better. Offensively, he was superb before the injuries, and I actually was enjoying him & Luka without LBJ. Statistically, this is the only season he's done this up until he was injured, so I don't know if this would be considered an "outlier", but good for him. As it stands now? He's injured and isn't doing s*** for us. As for the Ainge new about maxing him, I said that in the FA thread 2 weeks ago; that's nothing new. They'll max him here, but if they do, they better have a plan(s) behind it. And I keep coming back to try to knock some sense into your head. I've been trying to since "you didn't want to trade the kids." I keep you in reality, so when the eventual trade happens, you'll know you'll have a shoulder to cry on.