Make no mistake, Danny Ainge would have happily punted on the season if he found a deal that would have improved his team's chances of winning a future championship. Ainge has spent the last three weeks saying the Celtics' improved play -- immediately following Rajon Rondo's injury -- was somewhat of an aberration, due in part to a return to the median of many of the team's complementary players after subpar first halves. He also credited the team's renewed focus and energy after losing its best player and floor general. Ainge never expected that spike in energy to sustain for 40 games and a postseason, particularly after injuries to Jared Sullinger and Leandro Barbosa.

Those factors call into question Ainge's decision to keep the core of his team together, particularly after the team opened the post All-Star break schedule with two road losses to West Coast teams, dropping the team's road record to 8-17. Ainge settled on a small move (i.e. trading for Jordan Crawford), but there were certainly opportunities for the Celtics to get younger, even if, as reported, Kevin Garnett nixed a trade that would have net the Celtics DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe. Josh Smith also might have been had for a package that included Paul Pierce.

Like many other league executives, Ainge spent the last few weeks surveying the short-term and long-term landscape of the NBA. He likely came to the conclusion that the road to an NBA title in the present and future goes through LeBron James. There wasn't a player available on the trade market that gave the Celtics a better chance of challenging James in future seasons than Garnett, Pierce or Rondo.

The first thing NBA executives had to acknowledge at this trade deadline is that reigning NBA Finals MVP James is still getting better. At 28, his shooting percentage has increased each of the last seven seasons. This season, he is shooting 56.5 percent from the field. That's only a fraction of a percentage point shy of the 57.2 percent Shaquille O'Neal averaged with the Lakers at 28 in 2000-01 while dominating the low post on his way to an NBA title. O'Neal is an apt comparison for James since, like James now, he physically dominated his position. O'Neal won three NBA titles after the age of 28.

Of course, the biggest difference between James and O'Neal is James' ever-expanding offensive game. James has developed a post game in the last two seasons. Seemingly out of nowhere this season, he  has become one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, connecting on 42.0 percent of his trey attempts. Up until last season, James was always a below-league-average 3-point shooter. By comparison, one of the NBA's greatest 3-point shooters of all time, Ray Allen, connected on 39.2 percent of his 3-pointers at the age of 28, a rate markedly lower than James at the same age. James' true shooting percentage of 63.8 percent blows away his next best season, last year, when he averaged 60.5 percent.

Taking James' continued improvement -- even after securing his first NBA title -- into consideration, NBA executives are faced with the task of constructing rosters that can challenge James and the Heat in the short term and long term. Ainge made the right decision in determining his best chance to make postseason noise is with a team built around Garnett, Pierce and Rondo. No core group of players has had better success against James-led teams since the start of the 2007-08 than the Celtics with Garnett, Pierce and Rondo.

Since the start of the Big Three era, the Celtics have eliminated a James-led team twice from the postseason (2008, 2010). No other NBA team has eliminated a LeBron-led team more than once. Since the start of the Big Three era, James' teams have gone 9-13 against the Celtics in the regular season. By comparison, James' Cavs and Heat have posted a cumulative record of 305-119 against the rest of the league. James' Cleveland and Miami teams have gone 10-9 against the Celtics in the postseason. By comparison, his teams have posted a postseason record of 40-16 against all other teams. Finally, James' teams have gone 2-2 in playoff series against the Celtics during the Big Three era. His teams have gone 9-2 against all other teams.

While the Celtics' history against James creates ample argument for keeping the team together, the recent trends give credence to the theory that the Ainge should have "blown up the team" -- as if it were that easy. The Celtics have not beaten James in a playoff series since 2010, when he was still a member of the Cavs. The Celtics lost to the Heat last postseason with Rondo, and he will not be available in this year's playoffs. On top of that, Pierce and Garnett have aged another year, and their efficiency numbers have declined across the board.

That being said, a team with Josh Smith, DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe does not challenge James this postseason or next. Smith is in the last year of his deal, and he's seeking a max contract after this season. The Celtics would be better served saving the cap space than hitching their wagon to Smith, who has never played for a team that advanced past the conference semifinals. Jordan has two years and $23 million left on his deal. If he's the player who will put the Celtics over the top in their pursuit of the Heat, then why is he only playing 24.6 minutes per night for the Clippers this season? Bledsoe is another player slotted for short minutes on a championship-caliber team. He recently filled in as the Clippers' starting point guard for 12 games while Chris Paul was injured, and the Clippers went 6-6 in those games. They are 33-11 in all other games.

At the end of the day, Ainge was more than willing to move Garnett, Pierce or Rondo for up-and-coming players capable of offering the same challenge to the Heat that his core players have offered in recent seasons. Unfortunately for the Celtics, Kevin Durant wasn't available.