We’re counting down the 10 most important developments of the offseason.

No. 3: The Celtics re-sign Ray Allen

It was just after the All-Star break, the passing of the trade deadline and a west coast trip when the question was put to Ray Allen about everything that had been swirling around him.

He had been the subject of trade rumors from the middle of the winter, which coincided with the Celtics slump and a marked downturn in Allen’s shooting percentage. He was also in the final year of a huge contract and his salary-slot seemed like a tempting way to jumpstart the inevitable transition to a new era.

But as the deadline passed with no deal, Allen began to look like Ray Allen again. He made 37 of 57 shots over a four-game span immediately after the deadline, and so the question was posed as to whether this had any affect on him. 

“I think it coincides with the trade deadline,” he said, noting the difference. “Honestly I thought the trade deadline was [a few days later]. It didn’t matter to me.”

Whether it affected him or not, Danny Ainge’s decision to keep the team together and make one more run hinged entirely on whether to keep Allen. When Ainge didn’t make a move, he set the course for the team’s immediate prospects.

It wasn’t until the playoff run, however, when the future began to present itself. True, in a gamble-for-the-ages scenario, Ainge could have renounced all the free agents and made a play for the big prizes. But in a realistic maneuver, Ainge elected to play the hand he was dealt and add on at the margins.

That meant a number of things, but it absolutely required re-signing Allen. Beyond being one of the great shooters the game has ever seen, it’s a proven analytical fact that the Celtics play better when Allen is on the floor. That’s one area where numbers and observations match up nicely.

We can see that his shooting ability is extremely valuable to the Celtics offense as well as the motion that he provides by constantly running off screens and the numbers tell us how much. Ainge has said in the past that the team values Allen’s contributions perhaps more than anyone else would for exactly those reasons.

His name popped up with the Knicks early in the process, but it was the interest being shown by LeBron James and the Miami Heat that had to be the most tempting. When Paul Pierce re-sign quickly, the prevailing thought was that Allen’s deal would take a while.

Only it didn’t. Just a day into the start of free-agency, Allen re-signed for a deal that was about as close to perfect for both sides as one could hope: two years, with a player option, for $10 million annually.

The salary reflects that Allen, while still a very good player, is no longer in the max-contract range, while the length is appropriately short.

The player option also gives Allen something he didn’t have last year: control. For a player who obsessively craves normalcy, that’s no small consideration.

Finally, Allen’s deal tipped off the direction that Ainge was taking with this window of opportunity: two years, which is also the time Kevin Garnett has remaining on his current deal. (Unless there’s a lockout, but that’s a whole other issue).

Bringing back Allen completed the first step of Ainge’s offseason blueprint and signaled that yes, the Celtics would be returning for one more run.

Up next: Paul Pierce’s new contract reinforces his place in the Celtics hierarchy.