Celtics reloaded in offseason

Just when the rest of the NBA thought it had closed the gap, the Celtics muscled up in the offseason and might just be courting their best roster of the team’s new generation.

W  ithout Kevin Garnett, the C’s got bounced in the second round by the Magic, the new darlings of the East, and it looked like the aging Celtics would be hard-pressed to repeat their 2007-08 championship — especially in a conference that was getting tougher at the top.

Pushing at the edge of the league’s soft salary cap, GM Danny Ainge needed a Houdini-like effort to improve the roster. While Ainge didn’t have a bottomless pit of cash to throw around, he was able to sell the team’s history, along with an immediate chance to contend for a championship.

With that, Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels took short money from the C’s, who also retained Glen Davis after he received less interest on the open market than anticipated. The additions caused Ainge to say last month this is “a much better team” than last year’s group.

“We had a very good summer,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I sat with Danny right at the end of the year and gave him a list, a shopping list, and he pretty much fulfilled it.”

Last season’s team was flawed by a lack of depth, and they were exposed in the playoffs. This year’s unit looks as complete as can be, thanks to Ainge’s outstanding offseason.

“There were some guys that we tried to acquire, but we just couldn’t get them,” Ainge said, tongue in cheek. “Kobe and Dwight Howard and LeBron, we couldn’t pull it off. They weren’t available. They want to beat Boston. They don’t want to play for us.”

Kobe and LeBron will need a rain check. They won’t beat Boston — not this year.

– Jeff Howe is Metro Boston’s lead writer on the Celtics beat.  

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