As today?s NBA trade deadline approached, the Celtics were exploring three basic avenues for a deal, but a series of calls have produced no results yet.

?We?re out there trying to find things that will make us better,? director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said, ?but the only things that have been available aren?t good deals for us. I?ve made just as many phone calls as in the past, and I?d say there are many things I?ve tried to make happen, but we haven?t been able to do anything we like.?

While Ainge wouldn?t get specific with his wish list, sources are saying he is turning away from anything that would alter his core of Paul Pierce, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins. If a deal can be made, it would almost certainly fall into one of three categories - adding a key veteran, lessening the Celts? overall salary burden to create more flexibility down the line or trading for an untapped talent that may be sitting near the end of a bench.

?I do like a lot of our core guys, so I don?t feel like I have to do something,? Ainge said. ?As far as a veteran goes, I think that?s something we?ll definitely look at this summer. We want to see what we have right now. I want to see how the guys we have play together. I want to see them get experience and get better so we have a better feel of what we need in the offseason.?