Bring on the Cavaliers, the Pistons, the Heat and any other team in the NBA’s powder-puff Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics are ready to roll.

With Kevin Garnett reportedly set to become the second all-star to join the Celtics in the last five weeks, the NBA’s most storied franchise is suddenly competive again. No more talk of lottery finishes and spring playoffs with any New England ties. With MVP candidate Garnett and shooter-supreme Ray Allen joining Paul Pierce, the Celtics have the three best players on a single team in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire league.

In order to pry Garnett and his league-high $22-million salary away from Minnesota, the Celtics will give up an awful lot. If the asking price is indeed Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff (plus two first-round picks), the Celts are handing T’wolves general manager Kevin McHale many of the valued players Danny Ainge has assembled over the last five seasons.

But all along, Ainge’s “plan” was to stock his roster with enough chips that could one day be shuffled to land players like Garnett and Allen. Now he’s done it.

Left over are likely starters Rajon Rondo at point guard and center Kendrick Perkins, injured guard Tony Allen and forwards Brian Scalabrine and Leon Powe. Candidates to fill out the rest of the roster would include draft picks Gabe Pruitt and Glenn Davis, as well as rookie free agent Brandon Wallace. The Celts would also be able to use some minimal salary-cap space for a spare free agent or two.

That’s a pretty slim group surrounding the new Big Three, but it’s enough to make a few deep playoff runs in the East. That hasn’t been the case in Boston since the original Big Three of McHale, Larry Bird and Robert Parish some 20 years ago.

The trade is certainly sweet music for Ainge, ownership and Pierce, who’ll turn 30 years old this October. After playing on the East’s worst team last winter, Pierce now finds himself on a squad with big dreams. That’ll be the case throughout Pierce’s contract, which runs for four more years, a time period Ainge has termed the franchise’s “window of opportunity.”

First came the draft night deal for Allen, the 32-year-old UConn product with the purest jump shot in the league. If healthy (he’s coming off ankle surgery), Allen is perhaps the best deep shooter in the NBA. The six-time All-Star averaged a career-high 26.4 points last year in Seattle and has three years left on a contract that pays him $16 million this year.

Now comes KG, the NBA’s ultimate Big Ticket. The Celtics made a run at the 31-year old, 6-foot-11 star at draft time but Ainge’s reluctance to part with Jefferson scared off McHale. When attempts to swing deals with Phoenix, the L.A. Lakers, Charlotte and other teams failed, McHale and Ainge renewed their talks.

Garnett has never led the Timberwolves further than the Western finals in 2004. But he’s clearly been one of the NBA’s five best players for a decade In his dozen seasons, he’s been a 10-time All-Star and won the MVP in 2004. He owns career averages of 20.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists, showcasing his unique all-around skills that allow him to jump over the game’s biggest big men, fill the lane on fast breaks for monster jams or handle the ball like a guard.

Garnett literally changed the business of the sport, too. In 1997, Minnesota signed him to a six-year, $126-million deal that stunned the game and led to a restructuring of contract limits in future labor negotiations.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the lone holdup to the trade late yesterday was a reworking of Garnett’s massive contract. Once the league signs off on the deal today, the move will be similar to Ainge’s plan.

The Celtics, at long last, are ready to roll once again.

kmcmamar@projo.com