ROXBURY -- Aron Baynes spent much of his Thursday morning playing games and having fun with middle-schoolers at the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation annual end-of-year carnival at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

Afterwards, though, Baynes talked about the the more serious business of basketball, and the possibility that this was his last community event in the Boston area.

“I haven’t really thought too much about that,” Baynes said. “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.”

Baynes is slated to make about $5.4 million dollars if he exercises his player option and stays with Boston. The league’s mid-level exception for taxpaying teams is $5.7 million, so he could move and not lose any money if he gets sold on a better opportunity.

However, most of the opportunity he lost in Boston was due to injury. When he was fully healthy, he was only limited during a variety of bad matchups against more athletic teams. Brad Stevens liked the two-big lineup with Baynes and Al Horford, bu Horford also has a player option, so it’s unclear if that pairing will exist regardless of Baynes’ decision.

There is also a bit of unfinished business for Baynes, which could factor into his decision.

“There’s only one thing you can look to achieve when you come to Boston,” he said. “With the legacy they have here, you want to add to that legacy."

If Baynes does return, he’ll also be looking to wash the unsatisfying taste of this past season out of his mouth. You can expect him to be more vocal about getting the team more focused earlier in the season.

“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,” he said. “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.”

Baynes will be playing in the FIBA World Cup this summer for his Australian National Team. By the time he dons the Green & Gold, we’ll know if he’s still a member of the Green & White. Whatever his decision is, he’ll be focused on one thing.

“I’m very fortunate to have been part of a championship team,” he 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.”