With O.J. Mayo off the board (he'll sign with the Dallas Mavericks) and Courtney Lee looking more like he'll be out of the Boston Celtics' price range, the Celtics must start to dig a little bit deeper into the free agent pool of wing players.
Among those still available?
Milwaukee Bucks swing man Carlos Delfino, a player that the Celtics have expressed some interest in according to league sources.
Delfino doesn't have the same kind of sizzle as a Mayo or Lee signing might have, but he would definitely fill a need that Boston has moving forward.
At 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, Delfino has the size, speed and athleticism to play both shooting guard and small forward.
In addition, the 29-year-old (he'll be 30 next month) has played under defensive-minded coaches in Milwaukee (Scott Skiles) and Boston (Larry Brown), so the adjustment to Doc Rivers wouldn't be quite as startling as it would for some players.
But the challenge for Boston in acquiring a player like Delfino isn't all that different than it was for Lee and Mayo -- money.
Short of a sign-and-trade, Boston's only shot at acquiring Delfino would be to offer him their bi-annual exception which is worth about 1.9 million.
Coming off a three-year deal worth 10.5 million, it's not a given that Delfino would be willing to accept significantly less money, especially if he could get more elsewhere.
However, Delfino hasn't been on a playoff team that made it past the first round since he left Detroit following the 2006-2007 season.
An opportunity to play for a team that has made a habit out of going deep into the postseason the way Boston has in recent years may be enough of an enticement for Delfino.But when it comes to free agency and you're a team like the Celtics with limited resources, you have to keep plenty of options at your disposal.
In addition to Delfino, the Celtics remain very much in the picture for Mickael Pietrus.
His agent, Bill McCandless, has told CSNNE.com that his client has had a number of teams express interest, but the connection Pietrus made with Celtics players and their fans is very strong.
"I think it goes without saying that he loved it in Boston," said McCandless. "We'll see how it all works out in the end."