Paul Pierce is hoping to take a more active role in helping to shape the future of the Boston Celtics, beyond their looming first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.

"I think it's a big summer for me, for (Boston president of basketball operations) Danny Ainge and for the organization," the All-Star swingman said. "We have a chance to do something, to turn this franchise back to where it should be.

"I mean, this is the Boston Celtics, man. We should never have years like this. Ever."

This season, the Celtics turned over nearly the entire roster and saw coach Jim O'Brien quit midseason because he didn't share Ainge's long-range vision for building and running the team. Until a surge a month ago, sparked by Pierce, it appeared the Celtics would miss the playoffs.

But as things changed for the better, so did Pierce's outlook.

"I think we're in a good position, because we got rid of all our contractual problems," Pierce said, sounding more like an NBA executive than an NBA superstar. "I don't know what the deal's going to be with Vin (Baker), but we're going to have no real big salaries other than me and Raef (LaFrentz).

"We've got a lot of good young players, we've got the (midlevel) exception, we've got draft picks. I think we've got a lot of leverage. If we do everything we can and make the right moves, then we've put ourselves in good position right now as far as the future -- as far as building something up here and getting players in here to build a championship team. I think we've put ourselves in that position."