In his 16 years as the Boston Celtics’ president of basketball operations, Danny Ainge has earned a reputation for keeping his cards close to the vest.

This trait generally has served the Celtics quite well, but fans must be wondering just where Ainge might find his next ace or two. He certainly needs a few.

After a busy NBA draft Thursday night, Ainge met the media and basically tried to calm the masses. Over the last two weeks, any grandiose plan the franchise had to target banner 18 blew up in smoke. It’s become apparent that the Celts will lose Kyrie Irving to free agency. He reportedly didn’t like how his brief, unfulfilling stay in Boston unfolded. The feeling is mutual.

Any far-fetched dreams of engineering a trade for All-Star big man Anthony Davis also were dashed. He let it be known through the basketball grapevine that he didn’t want to play in Boston, either. Instead he’ll spend his winters in Los Angeles with LeBron James.

Finally, in a true kick-in-the-teeth, classy veteran Al Horford, 33, told the team his $30 million option for next season wasn’t going to cut it. He’s shopping for a championship contender and is in line for a four-year deal for about $100 million, according to the latest scuttlebutt. The Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks are in the mix.

These spins in the NBA’s highly entertaining, often amusing, free-agent soap opera are death blows to a franchise that’s always all about championships. At least that’s the conclusion most of the basketball world has reached. But Ainge apparently sees opportunity.

“I’m excited about our team going forward. I like where we’re headed,” Ainge said. “I like the core young group of guys. I think we’re going to be a really competitive team again.”

Really? More likable perhaps, but how competitive? Make the playoffs competitive or run-to-the-finals competitive?

We’ll soon find out exactly what Ainge sees that no one else is grasping. The Celtics added four collegians in the draft but it would be a major surprise if any of them is a rotation player next season. The real work comes when free agency begins at 6 p.m. next Sunday. That’s when Ainge will find out if Irving and Horford really are leaving. He’ll also make a decision on retaining the mercurial Terry Rozier by then and gauge what it may take to sign free-agent Marcus Morris.

Without Irving and Horford, the summer focus will be on adding big men and a point guard. Nikola Vucevic of Orlando is an attractive frontcourt option and if reports are true that Irving could land in Brooklyn, the Celts could target Nets star D’Angelo Russell. Both players would eat up the $26 million in salary-cap space Ainge frantically is carving out these days.

So this is how the world has turned for Ainge and the Celts. After several years of cobbling together “assets,” and using draft picks and deft trades to assemble a team that was seen as the best in the Eastern Conference last summer, the equation has changed. Thanks to an untimely injury to Gordon Hayward that’s reduced the former All-Star to a shell of himself, plus the mental implosion of Irving, the two most important acquisitions of the last few years didn’t pan out.

So with his best-laid plan up in smoke, Ainge is back in team-building mode. Pairing Irving with Hayward, Horford, and young talents Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown sounded so promising. The group was set to thrive in the “position-less basketball” system espoused by Coach Brad Stevens.

Now it’s time to get fans excited about Nikola Vucevic, and the promise of draft picks Romeo Langford and Grant Williams? Where have you gone, Greg Kite?

“I’m very excited about what the possibilities are over the next month,” Ainge said.

It’s fair to ask if any of the blame for this retrenchment is on Ainge. Hayward’s issues are on no one. Injuries happen and if Hayward never can enjoy another star turn, that’s simply bad luck.

But how about Irving, the diva/tool who may not have the sweet free-agent landing spot (Brooklyn, Los Angeles?) he envisions. With Irving begging for a trade from Cleveland, the Celts seemingly fleeced the Cavs when they gave up an injured Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a lottery pick.

I’d do that trade again but interestingly Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said a few days ago, “We killed it in that trade,” citing Irving’s injured knee and the short-term contract the Celtics knowingly took on. Shouldn’t Ainge have caught wind on how bad of a teammate Irving could be?

So buckle up for a large dose of NBA summer soap opera. The Celtics are chasing their tails with two max-contract players opting to bolt and little cap room available to entice new stars to town.

In Danny we trust? Good luck.

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