You've got a plan, Danny. Right?

“I’m looking at all the players signing and wish we would get on the ball a little bit. I trust in Danny to put a good team around us, but I’m sitting here watching all these good players fall to other teams.” – Paul Pierce

Amen, Pauly. Amen. I want to trust Ainge, but all these other teams are signing outside help while the Celtics sit with a bench full of holes.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That’s all we’ve been doing since the Jermaine O’Neal news, it seems. Doesn’t Danny Ainge know I’m pretty damn impatient? (Boston Globe)

“It’s a challenge, because if you have a bird in the hand, sometimes you need to take it because you’re waiting for something you see better but might not be there if you wait too long,’’ Ainge said. “There’s a lot of players still waiting for something. There’s an offer sheet for Portland and Utah. Two teams right there with a little uncertainty that’ll have some money to spend depending on which way that goes. There’s an offer sheet with Orlando and Chicago. There’s a couple more teams that are looking for wings depending on which way that goes. So yeah, there’s some waiting going on.’’

Waiting? Yes. Worrying? For me, at least. The C’s have a ton of holes to plug, so this waiting game is getting me anxious. Even if I realize Ainge is probably just waiting to see which teams go over the luxury tax and will want Rasheed’s retiring contract. Why am I still nervous, even if I know Ainge’s waiting game makes sense?Just look at the C’s depth chart right now. It needs a whole lotta work.

Point Guard – Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Oliver Lafayette

Shooting Guard – Ray Allen

Small Forward – Paul Pierce, Tony Gaffney

Power Forward – Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis

Center – Kendrick Perkins (injured), Jermaine O’Neal

That’s it. Those are the only players the Celtics have. Matt Janning has a camp invite too, but — last I heard – isn’t sure if he’s going to use it). And even if he does, he’s probably unlikely to make the team. So if the offseason ended today, the Celtics would head into the 2010 season with no backup center, no backup shooting guard, and Tony Gaffney as the seventh man. Sweet. I like Gaffney’s hustle as much as the next guy, but I think we can all agree that Gaffney as Paul Pierce and Ray Allen’s lone backup is not exactly what one would call ”ideal.”

So this waiting game is killing me. I just want the Celtics to make a move and make it quickly, so I can sleep easy at night. Mostly because, well, they need some serious help just about everywhere on their bench. They definitely need another big man, absolutely need a wing or two and, even though they have a few short players on the bench, could use a backup point guard, too. Meanwhile, almost every name I hear the Celtics are interested in makes approximately zero sense. Josh Howard won’t accept the minimum and can’t get traded. Shaq clogs up the middle and is a worse defender than Regular Season Sheed. (As we all know, that’s bad. Really, really bad.) Matt Barnes? Is he really ready to sign for the minimum, even though he hasn’t had a big payday once in his entire career? Ronnie Brewer? Well, maybe. It’s possible. But Adam Morrison? Kwame Brown? Gag me with a spoon. The good players Ainge is after seem to be far-fetched dreams, while the bad players are nothing short of brutal nightmares.

There are so many questions left to answer this offseason and I have no idea what’s going on. I realize Ainge is normally a good GM and probably deserves a little faith, but the Celtics have a whole lot of work left to do and — for the life of me — I can’t figure out what moves they’re going to make.

At some point, I have to believe, they’ll make improvements to the roster. Until then, we wait.

And wait.

And wait.