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WALTHAM, Mass. -- So, Gerald Wallace, where have you been all summer?

"At home with my family, spending time with my family, enjoying it," Wallace said. "Being traded is a process that nobody likes to through so it kind of caught me off guard, shocked me."

Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge noted last week that he had yet to communicate with Wallace in the aftermath of the summer blockbuster that delivered the 13th-year veteran to Boston. Wallace, who arrived in Boston late last week, admitted at Celtics Media Day on Monday that being traded for a third time in 30 months rattled him and, facing the prospect of a rebuilding process, it took the 31-year-old Wallace some time to process it all.

But he stressed that Boston's fresh start in no way diminishes his excitement to play here.

"I think the main thing that a lot of people that have taken out of this is that I didn’t want to come, I didn’t want to be here, I didn’t want to be a part of it. That’s so far from the truth," Wallace said. "I think the main thing was, with me being in the league for 13 years, I’ve been traded three times in the past three or four years. This trade kind of caught me off guard, I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t know anything about it.

"It wasn’t like my agent talked to me about it and said, ‘There’s a possibility there might be a trade' or something. I was basically sitting at home with family and friends, we were sitting around the table, playing cards and getting ready to watch the NBA draft, and, bam, it hits the screen. I don’t know anything about it. It kind of caught me off guard, it put me in shock. You kind of sit down and look at yourself and wonder what happened. Is there something I could have done better to stay?

"I'm actually happy to be here in Boston. I’ve always loved the city of Boston when I came here. Besides, I’m a Red Sox and Patriots fan, so I’m close to my teams. I’m happy to be here, and I want to be here. A fresh start, it’s kind of hard when you’ve been in the league 13 years, coming somewhere that’s got to start all over. But for me, I think it’ll be challenging, trying to turn this team around like I did in Charlotte, kind of help these guys out, and push as far as we can here."

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MILTON, Mass. -- Back in July, when the Boston Celtics formally introduced the players acquired from the Brooklyn Nets as part of this summer’s nine-player blockbuster swap, small forward Gerald Wallace was absent, excused from the press conference to attend the start of his youth basketball camp in his native Alabama.

Seventy-three days later, with training camp less than a week away, the former All-Star still hasn’t made an appearance at his new basketball home. So when a reporter noted to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on Tuesday that Wallace remains an intriguing figure because he hasn’t spoken to the media, Ainge smiled and offered, “I’m right there with you. I’m anxious to meet Gerald.”

The two crossed paths briefly a lifetime ago, when Wallace was a fresh-faced rookie in Sacramento and Ainge was doing TV work. Now, Ainge is presiding over his second Boston rebuild and 31-year-old Wallace is the heftiest contract on his books (three years, $30.3 million).

“I haven’t had much conversation with him. He’s really the only one,” said Ainge. “He’ll be in town, I think, next week.”

The Celtics open camp in Newport, R.I. on Oct. 1. Media day, when all players are typically available to reporters, is one day earlier at the team’s training facility in Waltham.

Now, don’t misconstrue. This doesn’t appear to be any sort of holdout situation. Ainge said it’s often difficult to track down players in the offseason, particularly veterans, noting, “It’s a nightmare trying to get ahold of the players in the summertime. I was the same way when I was a player.”

But with just about everyone else on Boston’s roster dropping by the team’s practice facility in recent weeks and others returning early for informal workouts, Ainge is most certainly eager to sit down with a player that’s due to earn $10.1 million next season.

It’s not an understatement to say that the speed at which the Celtics will navigate this rebuild/transition process hinges a great deal on Wallace. Boston needs him to play well, regardless of whether he spends three years here or not.

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Each weekday for a three-week span, our summer panel of prognosticators -- a motley crew featuring our friends in the Celtics blogging community -- will join forces to tell you how the 2013-14 season will play out for Boston. We'll gaze into our crystal balls and attempt to answer all your questions before this season's team even hits the floor together for the first time.

Today's Celtics Summer Forecast topic: Which player won't make the opening-day roster?

We couldn't even pose this question before the Celtics (sort of) answered it. Boston traded second-year center Fab Melo to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday along with cash considerations to bring back the nonguaranteed contract of Donte Greene. Barring any additional offseason moves, it's likely that Boston will waive Greene and save $1 million in salary, dipping them below the luxury tax line -- something that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has stressed his team in transition desires to do in order to help avoid looming repeater penalties in future seasons.

The Celtics currently have 14 guaranteed contracts on the roster, but we'll still pose the question as part of our summer series: Who won't be here when the regular season begins?

The guess here? Jordan Crawford. The Celtics cleared a little bit of their frontcourt logjam by dealing away Melo, but there's still a surplus of shooting guards. Crawford became expendable when Boston brought back MarShon Brooks as part of the blockbuster swap with the Brooklyn Nets.

With the uncertainty surrounding Rajon Rondo and his recovery from a torn ACL, there's a line of thinking that Crawford and his passing skills could hold value as a ballhandling guard should Rondo not be ready for the start of the season. But, ultimately, the question is whether Boston sees a long-term future with 24-year-old Crawford (who is due $2.1 million this season and is pegged for a $3.2 million qualifying offer next season). At the moment, it's hard to see where he fits.

Alas, it takes two to tango and Boston needs to find a home for Crawford. Acquired at the trade deadline, Crawford averaged 9.1 points and 2.5 assists over 21.6 minutes per game in 27 appearances for Boston. He appeared in five playoff games, but his most memorable moment might have been barking at Carmelo Anthony after a Game 5 win in New York.

Votes were split among our panelists, with 36.3 percent suggesting that Boston will make no further moves (at least before the start of the season). Crawford was the most popular player predicted to move, garnering 27.2 percent of the vote. Three other players: Brandon Bass, Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries received at least one vote apiece as well.

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