"Danny Ainge does not want to see another decline in the franchise like the one that happened after the Boston Celtics' original Big Three dried up, and he's reportedly willing to break up his current star trio to ensure that.

The only problem is that he's not seeing any worthwhile deals to make.

The Celtics have limped to a 5-8 start behind 34-year-old Paul Pierce, 35-year-old Kevin Garnett and 36-year-old Ray Allen. Ainge, the Celtics' president of basketball operations, told The Boston Globe that he would consider a trade if it would help the team get younger and be poised to be competitive in the next era.

Ainge saw the Celtics pass up deals when Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were aging, and the result was a steady deterioration that saw Boston not make the playoffs or advance beyond the first round from the 1992-93 to 2000-01 seasons.

"First of all, it's a different era," Ainge told The Globe. "I sat with Red (Auerbach) during a Christmas party (in the 1990s). Red was talking to Larry, Kevin, and myself and there was a lot of trade discussion at the time, and Red actually shared some of the trade discussions. And I told Red, what are you doing? Why are you waiting?"