WALTHAM, Mass. -- While offering his perspective on the latest happenings this offseason, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was asked whether he enjoys the free agency process.

"No," deadpanned Ainge, eliciting laughter from the media. "I'd like to get LeBron James. No, I'm just kidding. It's a hard game. There's a lot of juggling going on and a lot of decisions to be made."

Ainge admitted Boston's offseason might have hit a slight snag when Tony Allen agreed to a three-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week, but suggested it's only halftime of the free agency process and believes there's plenty of time to rebuild and reshape Boston's 2010-11 roster.

"The Tony Allen situation, it's difficult," said Ainge. "He went a different direction. Our options No. 2, 3, 4, and 5, we're ready to do. Who knows, sometimes things turn out better than your initial plan."

Ainge admitted finding depth at the wings is going to be difficult, especially with the team limited by the salary cap. He said it might take time for the market to play out as other teams -- particularly those with money to spend -- assess their own needs, especially as offer sheets around the league play out.

Here are some other highlights from Ainge's Q&A with the media on all things offseason:

On what didn't work out with attempting to re-sign Allen
"Things did work out for Tony, we had a good six years with Tony. No, I think you'd have to ask Tony that. We wanted Tony back and we tried to get him. It wasn't a financial decision."

On potential to re-sign guard Nate Robinson
"Nate's a guy we're talking with, along with a slew of other free agents as well... I'm not sure there's progress. I think I know where he stands and I think he knows where we stand. The conversations continue... These kind of things can happen in an hour, or they can take a bunch of days. I'm not sure [what sort of timetable there is]."

On the team's remaining needs
"I think we could use another big guy, although we like [rookie center] Semih [Erden], he's kind of an unproven player. We could use help at backup point [guard], although we like [rookie guard] Avery [Bradley]. He's another unproven player. And we need some backup wings... I'm not sure one's more of a priority than another. It matters what players fall to us."

On if swingman Josh Howard is among the names being pursued by Boston
"I'd rather not get into the people who we are pursuing, there's a long list of them, but he's on that list."

On if Kendrick Perkins' surgery went as planned and an updated timetable for return
(Jokingly) "It was another very successful surgery." (Laughter)

On if he expects Rasheed Wallace to return to the Celtics
"I do not."

On what Miami has done this offseason
"It's pretty impressive. They've put a terrific team together, it doesn’t even matter what they do [from here]. It could make a little bit of a difference, but the three guys they have put together, with Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, that's a pretty solid team."

On potential chemistry issues in Miami
"I don't know, that's all speculation. I think they'll be fine. Winning does an amazing thing to team chemistry. Sometimes winning has more to do with chemistry, than chemistry does with winning."