Say this much about Danny Ainge: The Celtics director of basketball operations doesn't waste time.

When free agent Travis Best balked at the team's minimum-scale offer on Tuesday, Ainge changed direction, and yesterday made a minimum-level offer to guard Mike James - ironically a player who came off the bench behind Best in Miami last season.

Though Ainge said last night he was waiting to hear whether James had accepted the offer, which would pay the two-year NBA veteran approximately $638,679 next season, Best's agent had little doubt that James would accept.

``Of course he will,'' said Forest King, who was caught off guard by Ainge's crossover move.

``I was under the impression that when Danny got back from Utah (yesterday) that he would be talking to Travis,'' King said. ``Instead, he told me that he had made the offer to James, and that was it.

``Yes, we had asked for more,'' King continued. ``We were looking at the Boston opportunity as a chance for Travis to return home, and also from the standpoint of where the team was; you know, the fact that they wanted to be deeper at the point position to go deeper in the playoffs.