The Boston Celtics are 8-10 since Jeff Green's final game for the team on January 7th. They rarely get blown out of games, but they also have trouble keeping big leads.

Their plus/minus has worsened a bit since Rondo and Green left the team, which shouldn't be surprising, but their win percentage has actually improved. Most of the wins since Green's departure are against sub-.500 teams, but also against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Atlanta Hawks.

So it's fair to say that the team is performing around the middle of the field, and definitely not near the bottom, as might have been expected after saying goodbye to their All-Star point guard and their leading scorer.

They are clearly not a top team, though, and there is a lack of star power which is also eminent in the report cards. But let's get on with the grades.

GM Danny Ainge, A

Ainge might have dodged a bullet when he failed to land Kevin Love to pair him with Rajon Rondo. If you look at the players from this season, there is no guarantee that the Celtics would be competitive with those two as the centerpieces. And there would be no guarantee that either of them would stay in Boston this summer, because they both want to play for contenders.

Dodging a bullet isn't an indication of performance for a GM, though, so we have to look at the rest of Ainge's body of work this season.

Ainge has been a busy bee ever since the failed Love connection, collecting assets like they were delicious pollen. He used the Paul Pierce trade exception from the Brooklyn Nets trade in July 2013 to acquire Tyler Zeller, Marcus Thornton and a first-round pick. He has dealt away Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green, probably the two best players on the team, although that is debatable. We will never know if this was the best decision, but at least he got a nice haul for two players who might leave Boston for nothing this summer.

He has also traded away more than a handful of players who arrived in trades this season, but he has kept Zeller, Thornton, Jae Crowder, and Tayshaun Prince, in other words two young players with upside and two veterans. Thornton and Prince were expected to be traded before the deadline or bought out, but looking at how Brad Stevens has used them, they might actually hang around a bit longer. They have both played important roles in the Celtics recent upswing.

All in all, Ainge could have done a lot worse, and both the Celtics' owner group and the fans should feel comfortable with the direction he is taking this team.

Coach Brad Stevens, B+

Stevens has taken huge steps as an NBA coach this season, but there are still times when the team seems a bit lost on court, and that will always be the coach's responsibility. You can see it on defensive lapses, though less and less recently, but mostly when the offense becomes stagnant with no one leading the team, especially after Rondo was traded. To Stevens' credit, it has never looked like he was losing the team, and he has kept his players competing even against the elite teams of the league, resulting in some impressive and surprising wins as mentioned above.

We have yet to see whether Stevens can take a team to the top of the league, but he has done pretty well this season.

Brandon Bass, B

Bass is a pro's pro and probably the most reliable player on the team, whether he has been placed in the starting lineup or has seen limited minutes from the bench. The most valuable part about him is that he never quits, and his work ethic is a great example for the younger players on the roster.

There has been a lot of speculation about his trade value, but the Celtics are in no rush to sell him. He is not a building block for the future, but having him in the organization is a big plus no matter when the Celtics choose to make their next move towards becoming a contender again.

You have to wonder why no team has given Ainge an acceptable offer for Bass. Maybe other GM's underestimate Bass' full body of work, because he is not a guy you scout closely, but there are a lot of teams that could benefit from his services.

Avery Bradley, C-

Bradley shoots way too many long tw0-point shots - 37.7 percent of his field goal attempts are taken between 16 feet away from the basket and the three-point arc – and he hits only 42.9 percent of those shots, which makes him a quite ineffective chucker. His three-point percentage is a respectable 35.2, so he should be a very good three-and-D player if he kept to that and cutting to the rim, where he hits 60 percent.

The problem with Bradley is that he has been outplayed by his backup Marcus Thornton. And even though Bradley is still a very good defender, he hasn't shown that contagious bulldog mentality that put him in the elite status a couple of seasons ago.

Bradley is now the longest tenured Celtic, but only 24 years old. There should still be room for improvement.

Jae Crowder, C+

This may be too soon to say, but Crowder could be the poor man's version of Draymond Green. He is not nearly as versatile on defense, and his offense is streakier, but he has the same tenaciousness, and just as in Dallas, he has become a fan favorite for the Celtics. He could very well be a part of the team's long-term future, though, for a contending team, he will probably come off the bench as an energy player.

Kelly Olynyk, B+

The jury remains out on Olynyk and what his role will be. He is an unique talent as a center/playmaker, stretch five or whatever you will call him. He hits the three-pointer with 35.3 percent accuracy which is enough to make the opponents respect him. He is able to dribble his way to the basket like few other – if any – seven footers (how tall is Giannis Antetokounmpo, now?), and he is one of the best passers among big men. He is not uber athletic, however, and his somewhat short reach makes it difficult for him to be a defensive force. Though, he has improved a lot, mostly through adding strength during his summer workouts.

Phil Pressey, C-

Pressey has improved quite a bit from his rookie season, particularly on offense with much fewer turnovers and a better shot selection. He has, however, also seen his minutes go down, which shouldn't be a surprise, considering that Rondo took a lot of the minutes at point guard in the beginning of the season, Jameer Nelson took some while he was in Boston, and now Marcus Smart is getting more playing time. Pressey still fills the need for a third string point guard, which seems to be his ceiling.

Tayshaun Prince, B+

Has Prince stumbled into a fountain of youth near Waltham? He seems energized, and he is playing the most efficient basketball of his career – yes, it's true, his PER while playing for Boston is 16.9, which is better than in any of his thirteen NBA seasons. It is obviously a small sample size, but he might have been miscast in his last years in Detroit and recently in Memphis.

After he was traded but before he started playing in Boston, there was a lot of talk about a possible buyout, but Ainge and Stevens might have struck gold here and found a veteran that fits the team like a glove. The 34-year-old Prince has a calming effect on both offense and defense, and a player like James Young could learn a lot from him.

Marcus Smart, B+

Smart was definitely snubbed from the Rising Stars Challenge this weekend, but you wouldn't know it if you just looked at his numbers. He is closer to getting an A- than any other Celtics player, but he is clearly not as efficient as he should be, yet. However, he makes up for a lot by his intense, terror inducing defense. And with his much improved shooting form, he is now a threat from the three-point arc where he hits 35.0 percent compared to 29.5 percent in college. His numbers since he came back from injury in December are even more impressive - 37.4 percent from behind the arc.

If you have watched more than a couple of Smart's games as a Celtic starter, you will know that his impact is much bigger than his numbers. Even though he is a rookie guard, he changes the defensive identity of the team when he is on the court.

It's his defense and his willingness to work on his flaws that earns him the B+, but his overall ceiling remains unknown.

Jared Sullinger, B+

Sullinger has – with Jeff Green and Rajon Rondo gone – been the best Celtics player overall this season, though he has had his ups and downs. He is not quite a star, yet, but he is moving in the right direction, and he is probably right now the only Celtics player who could start for more than half of the teams in the league.

You can say that he has hit a crossroad in this his third NBA season. Can he improve his three-point shooting to become an all-around forward or should he stick to his bread and butter, attacking the paint and grabbing offensive rebounds? He only hits 28.9 percent of his shots behind the arc, which is an improvement on last season, but not nearly enough to make it a reliable weapon. It is important for Brad Stevens' offense, however, that as many players as possible are able to stretch the opponents' defense, so that the ball movement can create easy shots.

Sullinger has been criticized for having weight problems, and that might be true, but his current play style does require some weight to throw around. The big question is whether it helps him become the best basketball player, he can be.

Marcus Thornton, B

Thornton was more or less a throw-in when the Celtics acquired him in the three-team deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Brooklyn Nets last summer. Many people expected him to be traded sooner rather than later, but he has stuck around and lived up to his reputation as a somewhat streaky volume scorer, who has never seen a three-point shot that he was afraid of taking.

His Achilles' heel has always been his defense, but you can't tell that from his games for Boston. He is not a great defender, but he gets the job done.

It's hard to tell whether the Celtics get him different looks than before, or it's just a coincidence, but he hits his three pointers at a higher rate than ever before in his career. His 41.9 percent from behind the arc is close to elite status (14th in the league for players with two or more three-point attempts per game). This has helped the Celtics second unit in many games, and there should be many teams willing to trade for that. But so far he remains in Boston.

Evan Turner, C+

Turner was almost buried after last season, and he was labelled a reclamation project when the Celtics gave him a contract last summer. That was perhaps a bit unfair considering the state of his previous teams, the more or less dysfunctional Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers, who last season had big problems, long before Turner arrived.

He doesn't shine like a star in Boston, but he is a good fit in Brad Stevens' system as a point forward, who can also play the point guard or shooting guard positions. His versatility and his clutch shooting almost make up for his limited efficiency. But only almost. He is too turnover prone to be a reliable permanent solution at point guard and he doesn't hit enough of his shots to be a shooter.

Gerald Wallace, F

You simply can't give a passing grade to a player on a $10 million contract who doesn't play even though he isn't injured. Wallace has played 156 minutes this season, which is less than Tayshaun Prince, and he has been quite unproductive in those minutes. He is more like an overpaid assistant coach, and apparently he does it well enough to be a positive influence on the team. Otherwise, he would've been bought out or at least asked to stay away from the team until his contract can be used as a filler in a trade. For that, he might deserve a B as a coach, but as a player, that's an F.

James Young, C

Young's sample size of 194 minutes is too small to get him above a C, which is also telling about where he is in his development as a player. He has to earn his minutes on this team and even if he was drafted for his shooting touch, which is elite for his age, he can't be on the floor as a defensive liability. He has shown enough progress to get more minutes as of late, and he could end the season with a higher grade.

Tyler Zeller, B+

Zeller has always projected as a career backup center, but that might just be too low. If you can't find a star caliber big man, you can do a lot worse than this guy. He definitely looks like one of the biggest steals of last summer's trades. He was ridiculous on offense when paired with Rajon Rondo, with a true shooting percentage (TS%) above 68 in the first two months of the season, and had a huge dropoff after Rondo left. Now, it seems like he has settled at a high level (TS% at 59.1 for the six games in February).

He has helped the Celtics in many games this season simply because he can keep up with or at least rarely gets outplayed by other seven-foot centers in the league.