Aron Baynes remains undecided on player option: 'I want to be in the right situation'

Aron Baynes was in high spirits on Thursday morning as he spent his time playing games with middle schoolers at the Celtics Shamrock Foundation annual carnival at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. However, his future with the franchise remains murky ahead of a June 30th deadline on a $5.4 million player option for the 32-year-old center.

“I haven’t really thought too much about that,” Baynes said of the player option after the event. “I know my heart’s still here in Boston. I love Boston. It’s been great to my family. There’s no better place to play than TD Garden during the playoffs or when you’re in the middle of a comeback. So if I’m thinking of that, I know where I want to be. But at the same time I’ve got to talk with Danny, I’ve got to talk to Brad and see what their thoughts are as well. I want to be in the right situation.”

With the Celtics immediate contending future up in the air until the team decides on a path this offseason (likely starting with a direction from Kyrie Irving), Baynes remains in the crosshairs. He is clearly motivated to play only for a contender in the final stages of his career, but it is unclear yet whether the Celtics will have the pieces left in place to do that with Irving's future unclear and Al Horford set to decide on a player option at the end of June. What those guys decide looks to have a big impact on his next move.

“I’m very fortunate to have been part of a championship team,” Baynes said. "I definitely want to do that again and be able to be a big contributor on that team. So that’s what I’m looking to do and that’s my one focus moving forward.”

The center was also candid about the team's failures in the regular season and postseason, noting that the team's lack of buy-in on good habits all year long led to its undoing this month.

"It was unfulfilling. We had the talent. We just didn’t play as a team. So I think as a collective, from the top down over there on Guest Street, at the Auerbach Center, we all know we need to be able to play as a team from the get-go and build those habits night in and night out. I don’t think we built the right habits throughout the season. Everyone kind of focused on the playoffs and there was a lot of talk about when we get there we’ll be right, we’ll be able to play. But you can’t just flick a switch and play the right way. You need to set it up throughout the regular season. You need to go out there and do it as a team and grind out a routine and we weren’t able to do that at any point this season consistently.

"We had glimpses of what we could do when we play well as a team but night in and night out it wasn’t the norm for us. So it’s about focusing on that and whatever we can do to try and build that earlier and sooner. We started playing well once the playoffs did come but we need that focus, that playoff mentality a lot sooner. It’s all about the next play and nothing else matters until the next play after that and then just keep focusing on that every single time."

Based on that commentary, it's evident Baynes will be looking for some sweeping changes on the personnel or attitude front to return for next season. Whether or not he can foresee a role for himself after draft night in Boston will likely play into his choice but it should be much more clear then what path this team is headed towards.