Celtics Give Ainge Extension

Danny Ainge, basketball operations director of the Boston Celtics, received a three-year contract extension Friday after a season in which the team won its first division title in 13 years.

Ainge’s contract had been scheduled to expire after next season, but the extension will keep him with the team through the 2008-09 season, club spokesman Jeff Twiss said.

Financial terms of the deal were not released.

*

Nobody is sure what’s next for the Seattle SuperSonics’ Ray Allen.

Allen is one of nine free agents and one of the NBA’s premier players on the market.

After Allen earned about $14 million this season, Seattle could have given him a maximum $97 million, five-year extension. Negotiations during the regular season didn’t work out, and both sides agreed to try again after the playoffs.

Asked if he would return, Allen really didn’t say.

“That’s been my goal the whole time,” he said after the SuperSonics were eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. “It’s tough to think about now.”