It’s not that the Celtics organization is staggered after Kevin Durant decided to pass on their maximum contract offer and join the already-loaded Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics fully planned for this scenario to occur, although president of basketball operations Danny Ainge put all of his efforts the past few days — including luring Patriots QB Tom Brady into the recruiting meeting — into getting Durant.
It didn’t work. Durant accepted the opportunity to perhaps play with the most star-studded team short of the Harlem Globetrotters, joining Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and the Warriors.
The Celtics’ reaction will be continuing to make astute moves to improve the team long term. While the club has enough money for a maximum contract — the money stashed for Durant — they don’t need to make any rash moves.
Boston already nabbed Atlanta big man Al Horford on Saturday night to complement its deep backcourt and become a vastly better defensive club.
The organization has some choices to make. Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller are each restricted free agents, and with Durant signing, as well as Pau Gasol joining the San Antonio Spurs, offers are almost certain to begin emerging for that duo.
The question Ainge has to answer is whether there is a true need for Sullinger, who played well during the regular season but was ineffective — 5.2 points, 31 percent shooting — during the loss to the Hawks in the postseason.
With Horford in the frontcourt along with Amir Johnson (his $12 million contract will likely be guaranteed), Kelly Olynyk, perhaps Zeller, Jordan Mickey, Jae Crowder, Jonas Jerebko, and rookies Jaylen Brown and Ben Bentil, there may not be a role for Sullinger next season.
The Celtics have a slew of younger players they need to develop. The free agent market is dwindling and the team will be hard-pressed to acquire another pure shooter without paying a heavy price.
Ainge could wait for the market to continue to thin and try to sign a shooter at a lower price. Or the club could give second-year guard R.J. Hunter a more expanded role and hope he develops into a more dependable shooter.
The coherent theme is the Celtics have the options to remain calm in this chaotic spending frenzy. Plenty of teams will soon have buyer’s remorse, and Ainge does not want to overreact to losing out on Durant by adding a questionable replacement.
Crowder will remain the team’s starting small forward in a lineup with Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Horford, and Johnson. Ainge could add another veteran to the bench, but he won’t sacrifice any potential salary-cap space for next summer, when Durant could be available again along with a Brad Stevens favorite in Gordon Hayward, as well as Blake Griffin and Danilo Gallinari.
The Celtics will improve with the addition of Horford, but they may have to wait another year, when the salary cap increases again, to make a major move.
The fact Durant seriously considered the Celtics says something about the progress of a franchise that had to start over after Ainge traded Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and eventually Rajon Rondo.
The rebuilding process has been successful so far. The team has reached the playoffs the past two seasons and the Horford signing ensures they are in the top half of the Eastern Conference.
Ainge still owns the flexibility to make a trade and there could be some opportunities arising over the next few days now that Durant has made his decision. Dallas has already snatched two of the Warriors’ starting five in Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, while there will be free agents likely to lower their asking prices once the market begins to thin.
Right now, Ainge’s best attribute is patience.
The Celtics already made off with one of the top free agents on the market and were relatively close to grabbing the top one. They were fully prepared for Durant going elsewhere — they informed Johnson and Jerebko they would likely honor their contracts unless they added another maximum contract.
The Celtics have been improving at a steady pace and they should not view this day as a gloomy one. Durant would have made the Celtics a championship contender. He makes the Warriors historic. That’s why he chose Golden State and the Celtics really shouldn’t take his decision personally, rather take it as a challenge to improve and prepare for next summer.
The $94 million salary cap is expected to swell to an estimated $110 million next summer and the Celtics will be quite an attractive destination, given the core of their team will all be under contract for 2017-18.
Ainge signed his players — such as Bradley and Crowder — to manageable long-term contracts for the express purpose of securing more money for free agency when the cap exploded. So there will be better days ahead and more premium free agents giving Boston a close look.
This was just the beginning.
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.
