Don’t be shocked if the extent of Danny Ainge’s wheeling and dealing prior to Thursday’s trade deadline begins and ends with the conclusion of the Sam Cassell Era in Boston.

Cassell was shipped off to Sacramento to rid the Celtics of about $600,000 and also open up a roster spot, in case someone such as Stephon Marbury is bought out of their contract.

According to sources close to the situation, Ainge has aimed high and taken a shot at trying to acquire a guy like Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby and even Amare Stoudamire (who appears to now be off the market).

However, the efforts have come up short thus far — largely because the Celtics don’t exactly have a ton to offer.

The Celtics value reserve big men Glen Davis and Leon Powe more than the rest of the league, Tony Allen has virtually no trade value these days — and you aren’t going to get much for unproven youngsters such as Gabe Pruitt, Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens.

Then there’s good old Brian Scalabrine.

There just aren’t a whole lot of chips to toss out on the table.

“I’d say it’s more than likely that nothing happens,” one source within the Celtics organization said.

It isn’t difficult to identify the two primary needs for the Celtics. They could desperately use a veteran big man — a la P.J. Brown — and also a backup point guard who is capable of handling defensive pressure.

The problem is there just aren’t a ton of quality big men out there for the taking. In fact, it’s a joke how pitiful some of the backup centers in the NBA are these days — and it’s not going to improve much in the next year or two with the lack of quality size coming out of the college ranks.

Is Josh Boone an upgrade over Big Baby or Powe?  Other than the added length, it’s probably a wash — before you add in the fact that Boone doesn’t have the same familiarity that Davis and Powe have with Doc Rivers’ system.

How about Charlotte’s duo of Nazr Mohammed or Ryan Hollins? Yuck.

Or a bunch of young, unproven guys like Robin Lopez (Phoenix), JaVale McGee (Washington), Spencer Hawes (Sacramento) and Aaron Gray (Chicago)? 

No thanks.

In order to get a guy like Wallace or Camby, the Celtics could have to find a way to match the salaries — and that’s nearly impossible because of the more-than-$60 million tied up between Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

Wallace is making about $13.6 million in Detroit this season, while Camby’s salary is a more manageable $8 million this season before dropping down to $7.6 million next season.

But realistically, are the Los Angeles Clippers going to take a package of Brian Scalabrine, Tony Allen and Patrick O’Bryant for Camby?

No chance.

As far as a backup to starting point guard Rajon Rondo is concerned, the ideal option is Marbury — whether you like him or not — but there’s been little movement on that front since neither Marbury nor his current employer, the New York Knicks, seem ready to budge and take a financial hit.

For now, the Celtics can only play the waiting game and hope there continue to be no takers for Marbury and that the Knicks eventually come to an agreement on a buyout.

If that doesn’t happen, it’ll be Eddie House running the team when Rondo needs a breather in the playoffs — which could be a scary sight. House is fine in the regular season, but the concern is for when he’ll have to run the team in the postseason against an opponent that can pressure the ball.

This is basically the identical team — minus James Posey and P.J. Brown — that won the NBA title a year ago and one that still has the best record in the Eastern Conference and looks up at only the Los Angeles Lakers in the standings. The Lakers, when Andrew Bynum returns to the court, are an improved team from last season. Cleveland has also made a significant jump with the addition of Mo Williams.

Ainge would like to improve the Celtics as well, but there just aren’t many options out there.

Jeff Goodman is a senior basketball writer for FOXSports.com. He can be reached at goodmanonfox@aol.com
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