Danny Ainge (AP)

Not even a week after their season ended with a wondrous failed comeback against the Knicks, the Celtics have already entered full-blown offseason mode. They’ve since lost wunderkind assistant general manager Ryan McDonough to the Suns, and the ridiculous rumor mill is churning like never before.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers stated the obvious after the Game 6 loss on Friday night when he explained team president Danny Ainge “has already worked on stuff.” Here’s the “stuff” facing Ainge over the next few months.

Step 1: What to do with Paul Pierce?

A decision on one of four options for Pierce must be made by July 1:

• 1) Trade him for a bad contract and young talent.
• 2) Waive him for a $5 million cap hit in 2013-14.
• 3) Amnesty him to clear his salary from the cap.
• 4) Bring him back for $15.3 million next season.

The trade market for Pierce was set at Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks and a late first-round pick at the February deadline, so Ainge shouldn’t get his hopes up for a deal of much value. Unless they can pull off a sign-and-trade for someone like Josh Smith, the market won’t improve for Pierce after his postseason performance.

Likewise, Ainge recently admitted, “You’re not going to find Paul Pierces and Kevin Garnetts on the free agent market,” so why take a $5 million cap hit and pay a downgraded free agent when they could just keep Pierce for another season? And given Pierce’s value to the franchise, amnestying one of the five greatest Celtics in history would be a PR nightmare for ownership. So, Pierce staying put seems to be the most likely scenario.

Step 2: Convince Kevin Garnett not to retire.

The added bonus of bringing back Pierce is that Garnett and Rivers would almost certainly follow suit, giving the Celtics a better center and coach than anything they could find on the open market. If Pierce goes, KG suggested he’d be on his not-so-merry way, too. How he goes would be an entirely different matter.

Garnett would then have two legitimate options: 1) waive his no-trade clause, allowing Ainge to first and foremost resume talks with the Clippers over a potential deal for Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan; or 2) file for retirement with the league, foregoing $24.4 million over the next two seasons and giving the Celtics some cap wiggle room.

Step 3: Explore the trade market for everyone else.

After having a ton of cap space last summer, the Celtics have none this offseason should Pierce and Garnett return. They locked up Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee and Jason Terry for considerable money over at least the next two seasons. Given the youth of the first three and the fact Terry finally, if only briefly, fulfilled his playoff promise, each has some worth. As do Rajon Rondo, Jared Sullinger and Avery Bradley, although the value of each might be at an all-time low given injuries to the first two and Bradley’s playoff struggles.

Anyhow, the Celtics will be in every major trade discussion this summer. Ainge always is.

Step 4: Nail the draft.

Ainge has had some success in the late first round (Bradley in 2010 and Sullinger in 2012) and some failures (J.R. Giddens in 2008 and JaJuan Johnson in 2011), and while the Celtics own the No. 16 pick on June 27 — the highest such selection of the KG era — this year’s draft class is a weak one.

Various mock drafts have the C’s taking wiry Syracuse point guard and Massachusetts native Michael Carter-Williams, Kentucky guard Archie Goodwin, Croatian forward Dario Saric, Louisville center Gorgui Dieng, Gonzaga center Kelly Olynyk or French center Rudy Gobert. Carter-Williams and Dieng both fill a need — the former as a top-10 talent behind Rondo and the latter as a 23-year-old big capable of contributing defensively.

Step 5: Target someone for the mid-level exception.

Should Pierce and Garnett return, the Celtics have $72.9 million committed to 11 players in 2013-14: Pierce ($15.3 million), Garnett ($12.4M), Rondo ($12.0M), Green ($9.0M), Bass ($6.5M), Lee ($5.2M), Terry ($5.2M), Bradley ($2.5M), Jordan Crawford ($2.2M), Sullinger ($1.4M) and Fab Melo ($1.3M).

As currently constituted, they’re hovering above the luxury tax ($70.3 million) but below the $4 million apron, so money-saving trades of guys like Crawford or Melo potentially pave the way for use of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.15 million) and/or the bi-annual exception ($2.65 million). Obviously, frontcourt help and backup point guard are Ainge’s top priorities as soon as the clock strikes midnight on June 30, and Kendrick Perkins is a likely target should the Thunder amnesty the $17.6 million remaining on his deal after this season.

Step 6: Determine the futures of their league minimum guys.

Chris Wilcox has probably played his final game in a Celtics uniform. The 30-year-old veteran played all of seven minutes and failed to score a point in the playoffs when they desperately needed a warm body off the bench.

That leaves Terrence Williams, Shavlik Randolph and D.J. White, all of whom are signed to non-guaranteed deals next season. Ainge doesn’t have to make a decision on any of them until training camp, when Williams and Randolph should at least compete for roster spots if someone better doesn’t come down the Pike.

In summation, all Ainge has to do this summer is determine the future of the face of his franchise as well as one of the game’s all-time greats, explore every trade possible, find a steal in a weak draft and convince a bunch of free agents to accept less money to play for a team that’s championship window appears to be shut. Easy enough.

Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith talked with Dennis & Callahan on Wednesday about trade rumors involving the Celtics and Clippers, and what he believes the Celtics will do in the offseason.

Smith said he thinks the Clippers, who were rumored to be interested in Kevin Garnett at the trade deadline, still would like to acquire Garnett, and that the Celtics might try to use that interest to get Blake Griffin from them. To get Griffin, though, Smith said they might have to allow Doc Rivers to go to Los Angeles.

“The Clippers, I know for a fact, were interested in Kevin Garnett,” Smith said. “[Chris Paul] isn’t necessarily happy right now. He wants to stay with the Clippers. I think he’s planning on staying with the Clippers because they can offer him close to $30 million more than anybody else. But he also looks at the Clippers and has reached the conclusion that he needs help on the front line, because neither Blake Griffin nor DeAndre Jordan has the requisite post-game skills to really make room for him to operate. They’re incapable of pulling guys away from the basket and being a threat on the perimeter and therefore giving Chris Paul space to operate.

“From that standpoint, once again, the Clippers have to be willing to let go of one of those guys. They would prefer it to be DeAndre Jordan, because clearly Blake Griffin has a better upside. Plus, he’s a better player. … As a result, in an effort to keep CP3, who’s a guy that approaches free agency and they’re looking to re-sign, they are entertaining a plethora of possibilities.”

One of those possibilities, Smith said, could involve Rivers heading to Los Angeles along with Garnett and Paul Pierce.

“According to guys that I’ve spoken to in NBA circles, the Boston Celtics would look at a guy like a KG, willing to unload him, and who knows, they may be willing to market [Garnett and Pierce] as a package deal,” Smith said. “If you’re the Clippers, obviously that’s not enough to let go of somebody like a Blake Griffin. But if you combine keeping CP3 as a priority, knowing that he wants legitimate help on his front line for the immediate future, combined with the fact that even though I believe Vinny del Negro has done a good job, there are others that don’t believe so. … If somehow, some way, you could get your hands on Doc Rivers in the same breath as you’re getting KG and Paul Pierce, it could be something that could be attractive. And if that’s attractive enough, if you’re Danny Ainge, and you and Doc Rivers, as much as you respect one another, you’ve just worked with one another for a long time — who knows what the situation is, but you might be willing to let Doc Rivers out of his contract.

“You’re not going to do it for Brooklyn or probably anybody within the Eastern Conference, but to move out west to Cali? That might be an attractive enough proposition for the Clippers to sit there and say, well, you know what, OK, we would let go of Blake Griffin under those circumstances.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the full interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page. For more Celtics coverage, go to weei.com/celtics.

On the credibility of the rumor and Rivers’ relationship with Ainge: “First of all, I don’t quote or attribute anything to people that lack credibility. … What I would say to you about Doc Rivers is that Doc Rivers is under contract with the Boston Celtics. The Boston Celtics absolutely love and respect Doc Rivers. But there have been some questions in NBA circles as to whether or not Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers desire to continue to coexist. They have profound respect with one another, there’s no animosity involved or anything like that, it’s just when you’re working with somebody every day you do tend to get tired of looking at their faces or hearing their voices or things of that nature. There’s nothing going on — you do reach a point, however, where you would like to embrace new challenges, where you’re thinking about moving forward.

“Doc Rivers has a tremendous amount of love and loyalty to those players he’s been coaching, and that takes precedence, no doubt. But in the event that the Boston Celtics are looking to move forward with a different set of players, who’s to say that Doc Rivers would want to stick around to coach new guys. … I haven’t spoken to Doc Rivers about that yet, but at the same time, people who know about Doc Rivers and people who know Danny Ainge have suspected that this is a possibility.”

On how the Clippers’ fan base would react to such a trade: “I don’t believe that it would sit that well because Blake Griffin is a human highlight film. You know that you’re losing something. Plus, he’s useful, and that’s why I’m saying it would be a hard thing to happen, because people are saying, what the hell are you doing, KG is 37 and he’s in the twilight of his career. The same thing could legitimately be said for Paul Pierce, who just completed his 15th NBA season, but that’s why the Doc Rivers component is so attractive, because you know that CP3 is a franchise-caliber player and you know that Doc Rivers has a championship pedigree as a coach.

“The combination of those two dudes being long term could give you the impression that it could be offset with their presence and their arrival. Now, again, that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. If you’re the LA Clippers, you hold on to Blake Griffin for dear life and you try to get them to take DeAndre Jordan. You can also make the argument that if you’re the Boston Celtics, what else are you going to get for KG and Paul Pierce?”

On what he thinks the Celtics will do: “I think more realistic is you breaking [the team] up, because you can get assets for them, unless you want to go in complete rebuilding mode, meaning, Paul Pierce, you buy him out, KG, you let him retire. Or you can look at it as, these guys are viable assets that can assist in getting valuable assets.

“Me personally, I don’t even think the Clippers are that stupid to let go of Blake Griffin. I think they’d work diligently to try and get you take a DeAndre Jordan first. But at the same time, this is Danny Ainge we’re talking about here. He always asks for the house. He ain’t looking to rent. He’s looking to pull off a complete heist if he’s capable of doing so. This is what they’re saying. You can’t put anything past Danny Ainge in what he asks for and you can’t put anything past the Clippers with what they’re be willing to do to keep CP3. … They consider him the franchise.”

On Derrick Rose: “I think the Chicago Bulls have told everybody he’s been cleared to practice, which I think was wrong on their part, by the way. Derrick Rose is a bit reluctant, but I also think that if you’re if you’re the Bulls, the mentality of players is, you’ve got to be fair to him. This is a guy that played with back spasms and turf toe and plantar fascia and all that stuff last year. He played through all of that trying to help us compete for a championship. We can’t fault him now when he’s not sure he can go. He went through this with us last year and look what it cost him. It cost him this entire season because he tore his ACL.

“What I ask everybody to remind themselves of is the fact that his brother is the one who instigated all of this by saying, why should he come back? The only reason why this story has just ballooned is because his brother sat there and took the liberty of saying, why should my brother want to come play with this team, because this team is not going to do anything, and this team has done the opposite. They’ve overachieved. The nation is watching, and now it’s looking at Derrick Rose because his brother opened his mouth.”

The Suns announced Tuesday that they have hired Celtics assistant general manager Ryan McDonough to be their new GM.

ESPN NBA analyst Bruce Bowen joined Dennis & Callahan on Tuesday morning to talk about the playoffs and speculation about a possible megadeal between the Celtics and Clippers.