ESPN

Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge wrapped up the signing of free-agent center Shaquille O'Neal this week while trying to squeeze in a vacation out west.

Now maybe it's time for a real retreat.

Boston's addition of another impact big man is the latest check mark on Ainge's offseason to-do list. The Celtics' roster is at a point where the team could sign second-round draft choice Luke Harangody -- an anticipated move that would bring Boston to the maximum of 15 players under contract for next season -- and call it an offseason, yet still be comfortable heading into training camp in October.

Yes, there remains the lingering uncertainty about what exactly the team plans to do with Rasheed Wallace. But having not only reassembled but reloaded (borrowing last year's catchphrase) a roster that came six minutes shy of winning a world title in June, Ainge and the Celtics can maintain their wait-and-see approach with Wallace's contract and simply monitor what develops moving forward, particularly as other teams finalize their rosters.

That's a luxury that's been afforded the team by not needing to utilize Wallace's contract in roster construction thus far (an offseason victory in and of itself). The Celtics expect Wallace to formally announce his retirement at some point, potentially walking away from the $13 million and two seasons remaining on his contract. But until he follows through on that plan, Boston has the freedom to trade him (offering other teams potential salary cap or luxury tax relief) in exchange for another piece to its 2010-11 puzzle.

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Happy now, Paul Pierce?

Shortly after opting out of the final year of a bloated contract to sign a team-friendly, four-year, $61 million deal last month, Pierce expressed disappointment in the lack of impact moves being made by Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge this offseason.

Boston quietly retained Pierce, Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson -- a fine offseason haul to most -- but the lack of big-name additions as much of the Eastern Conference loaded up left Pierce leery of his team's chances to get back to the NBA Finals.

Sure, the Green inked Jermaine O'Neal, utilizing its midlevel exception, but that was considered a move of necessity given that starting center Kendrick Perkins will miss as much as the first four months of the regular season after having offseason knee surgery. Even when Perkins returns, O'Neal could fill the role vacated by Rasheed Wallace, who the team insists still intends to retire.

Little more than a month after free agency began, amid a picked-clean free-agent crop, the Celtics seemingly made their big-splash move Tuesday, as sources indicated to ESPN.com that Boston is close to an agreement with free agent center Shaquille O'Neal.

Yes, O'Neal is 38. Yes, his game has diminished. But the Celtics appear set to add a four-time NBA champion and a 15-time All-Star to a roster that came six minutes shy of winning a world title this past season.

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Bringing back Nate Robinson might not have been Plan A for the Boston Celtics. It quickly became Plan B.

While president of basketball operations Danny Ainge suggested early in the offseason that Robinson was one of the free agents Boston had interest in retaining, his value to the Celtics increased exponentially after Tony Allen agreed to a three-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week.

Boston moved quickly to lock up Robinson, agreeing to a reported two-year deal that will pay him around $4 million per season with incentives to drive the value of the deal higher.

Had Boston brought back Allen, likely committing in the neighborhood of the $3 million per season he commanded from Memphis, the team might have sought a low-cost option to serve as a backup to Rajon Rondo and/or provide a scoring punch off the bench.

But when Allen threw the Celtics their first curveball of the offseason, Boston was facing the unenviable task of potentially trying to replace both Robinson and Allen, two key bench contributors by season's end, with only minimum contracts to offer.

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Cross another one off Danny Ainge's offseason checklist.

In the days following Boston's Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, Ainge, the Celtics' president of basketball operations, suggested his preference was to keep the core of the 2009-10 team together for another run at a world title. That possibility seemed murky at best with coach Doc Rivers pondering retirement to spend more time with his family and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen set to test unrestricted free agency.

But in the past few days, the Celtics have made great strides in ensuring that the Big Three -- and much of the core from the past three seasons -- will be in place next year for a shot at title redemption.

After multiple media reports of a deal Friday, a source confirmed to ESPN.com on Saturday that the Celtics and Pierce agreed to a four-year extension that all but ensures he'll finish his career in green. Coupled with the return of Rivers, who announced Wednesday he'd be back to honor the final year of his contract and take another shot at winning with this group, Boston now has two key leaders back in place just two days into the free-agent period.

Pierce cannot officially sign until July 8, but verbal agreements are commonplace after free agency opens on July 1.

Let's be honest, did we ever expect Pierce to walk away? The 12th-year veteran is synonymous with Boston and even when he opted out of his deal earlier this week, walking away from $21.5 million, it seemed unfathomable that he could end up in any other city.

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If the Celtics' offseason forecast was deemed cloudy from all the uncertainty surrounding the team's future, news that Doc Rivers will return to the Boston bench next season is the sun potentially breaking through.

While there's still plenty of work to be done in order to keep the core of this team together, Rivers' return is as good a sign as any that the team will do whatever it takes to keep the nucleus together for another title run. It's unlikely Rivers would come back to basketball -- sacrificing time away from the family that nearly pried him out of the final year of his contract -- if he wasn't convinced the Celtics will do everything in their power to bring back Paul Pierce and Ray Allen for the upcoming season.

For a fan base left reeling from the news that Pierce will opt out of his contract's final year to become an unrestricted free agent, Rivers' decision renews confidence that the Big Three era might not yet be over. Sources close to the team confirmed to ESPN.com that Boston anticipates re-signing Pierce sooner than later and will work with Allen through the summer with the hopes of bringing him back. Those two signings would likely ensure that both Pierce and Allen end their careers in Boston uniforms, while extending the window of opportunity for this new Big Three at least two more seasons with Kevin Garnett's contract running through the 2011-12 campaign.

"Doc is excited to come back and coach our team next year," Boston GM Danny Ainge told ESPN.com. "He feels rejuvenated about coaching this group next season."

It's an interesting choice of words for Ainge to note "this group." While it might be reading too deep, it sure seems to suggest Rivers will lead a group similar to the one he took onto the court for Game 7 of the NBA Finals earlier this month before letting Banner 18 slip away in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Lakers.

The Celtics currently boast only five players under contract -- Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace -- and Ainge will be challenged to both reassemble and strengthen last year's roster given potential cap limitations. Wallace is expected to retire, but could free up cap space if he sacrifices all $13 million remaining on his contract. Perkins is expected to be sidelined into the 2011 calendar year as he recovers from surgery scheduled for next week to repair a torn ACL.

Boston must also address its other free agents -- key role players over the past three seasons like Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine -- who the team would seemingly want to keep in place. But there's far more optimism than existed after Pierce's news broke Tuesday night.

Rivers' return does come as a bit of a surprise, even to his players.

"No, man, I had no idea [Rivers would return]," Davis told ESPN Radio Wednesday. "I was thinking about the offseason and how I can't control that. I was hoping he would come back, obviously he's a great coach and helped a lot in my career. Another year is great."

And now Davis is excited about the prospects of keeping the band together. Asked if Boston would atone for its Finals loss if the team came back with much of its core, he said, "Most definitely."

Davis added: "Another year together, a different mental approach knowing that we should have won it [last year], it makes the Boston Celtics a scary team next year."

On the heels of Boston's grisly overtime victory over the Knicks Sunday at Madison Square Garden, ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan examines why the Celtics are struggling.

Among his key topics:

• Kevin Garnett is still hurting
• Rasheed Wallace is playing horribly
• Rajon Rondo's flaws can be quite stark
• For a team with so many big guys, they sure don't rebound much
• Ray Allen is getting no respect
• The players aren't listening to Doc Rivers

Go HERE to read more of Sheridan's analysis.