The Boston Celtics shocked everyone by making a run to the playoffs this season, the second year of a full tear-down that saw them take dynamite to their championship core.
They look well-positioned for the future, given their premature success and the score of draft picks they've stockpiled during the rebuild. But Celtics general manager Danny Ainge knows there's plenty more work to be done, beginning this offseason.
"I don't think we've ever had cap space in the history of the Celtics, at least since I've been here," Ainge said at his end-of-season presser on Thursday. "We need to spend it wisely."
A small portion of that cap space, he said, will be going to young swingman Jae Crowder, who impressed after being acquired in the Rajon Rondo trade in December and can be offered a $1.1 million qualifying offer.
"We will definitely (extend a qualifying offer to) Jae Crowder, which I think is pretty obvious," Ainge said.
He also indicated that the Celtics would look to be players in free agency, touting Boston as a top-line free-agent destination.
"Most of the guys who have played here love it here," he said, "and they don't want to leave."
Whether or not there's any validity to the speculation about Boston's pursuit of Kevin Love (and what Kelly Olynyk's costly arm yank might have done to that pursuit), the Celtics are expected to be active this summer.
MassLive.com's Jay King reported Wednesday that the Celtics would be prepared to chase second-tier free agents, even if it meant handing out a contract that looked like an overpay in the moment.
"The idea," King wrote, "would be to acquire an improving player on a contract he could grow into."
Another potential avenue the Celtics can explore is the trade market, where their cache of assets would allow them to put together an attractive offer.
Regardless, Ainge says the Celtics are done taking steps back in the present to take steps forward in the future, so we can officially consider the rebuilding phase terminated.
It was short and sweet.
