Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“I love him. I really think he’s a big part of what we’re doing,” Stevens said. “Hopefully, he can have a great year right from the get-go. I thought last year was tough from the standpoint that he never did have a chance to do any drill work or to rebuild habits. He just had to be thrown into the fire.”

Stevens was at Williams College recently to watch his cousin, Alex McInturf, play for the Eph women’s soccer team.

Rondo has been perhaps topic No. 1 when it comes to the Celtics.

“He’s been great. He’s been very active,” said Stevens in an interview with The Eagle. “He’s been in and around Boston most of the summer. He just got back from a trip to China. He was back mid-last week. He’s been in the weight room and been around every day.”

Berkshire Eagle: Celtics’ Brad Stevens: Rondo ‘a big part of what we’re doing’

I’m not going to go on a big thing about this, because of course Brad Stevens is going to say that no matter what.  Regardless of the public face of this, we’re going to have to wait and see.

But again, I present to you more circumstantial evidence in the case of “Does Rondo Want To Be in Boston?”

“He’s been in and around Boston most of the summer. He just got back from a trip to China. He was back mid-last week. He’s been in the weight room and been around every day.”

I say again, if you worked anywhere and you got a few months off, would you hang around the office putting in some extra work to prepare for when you got back if you hated it there and wanted to leave?  Wouldn’t you, if you hated where you worked and had the opportunity to take ANY time off at all, wouldn’t you get as far away from that place as you can?

I won’t pretend to know what Rondo is thinking because that’s a fool’s errand.  Anyone not in Rondo’s inner circle who pretends to know what’s going on in Rondo’s head is really just telling you what they wish was in Rondo’s head.

I’m just stating facts.  I’m trying to piece together actions and match them with the reports.  His actions have pretty much kept him in Boston all summer except for his camp in Kentucky and an Anta-sponsored trip (and camp for kids) to China.

We’ll see how the rest goes.

Page 2:  We’re starting to talk actual basketball!!

 When the Boston Celtics take to the floor for training camp in a couple weeks, the camp battles will be plentiful.

Few will be as competitive as the fight for minutes among the bigs.

The Celtics will open training camp with six players who fall into this category, all of whom have visions – whether they’re realistic or not – of contributing in a meaningful way this season.

Here we take a look at all six players, breaking them down into three primary categories: Leaders of the Pack, In the hunt and Back of the pack.

CSNNE:  Camp battles: Plenty of competition among bigs

I really think the Celtics are going to give Tyler Zeller every opportunity to win that starting 5 job.  We’ll see how each guy responds to the challenge, but I’m pretty sure the starting 1-4 is going to be Rondo, Bradley, Green, Sullinger at this point.  Brandon Bass and Olynyk will come off the bench, which leaves Zeller and Vitor Faverani to battle for that other big spot.

Sorry, Joel Anthony.  But hey, at least you’ll have one of the best seats in the house.

My guess is that the Celtics will try to balance “showcasing” Brandon Bass for a deadline deal to a contender and giving Olynyk the time he needs to develop.  If Zeller can’t win that 5 spot, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Olynyk actually start at the 5 with Zeller and Faverani competing for bench minutes, especially if Olynyk has continued to work on his body composition and get stronger.  His biggest weakness is having the strength to defend opposing centers while maintaining the energy to play his game on the offensive end.

Banging down low with bigger guys can be very tiring.  Running down on offense after that and then trying to be a 3-point threat to stretch defenses is not easy.

Camp is coming quickly.  The time to come out of our summer slumber is nigh.  Soon, the answers to our basketball questions will begin to be answered, and all will be right in the world.

And then we’ll beg for this season to end.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Poll:  Who’ll be the Celtics starting center to start the season?

Related links:  CSNNE:  Better chance at a breakout season: Sullinger or Olynyk?  |  MassLive: What did Kelly Olynyk’s strong finish mean for Boston Celtics?

And Finally…

C’s players aren’t ranked very highly in the latest round of bullshit NBA rankings.

Boston Celtics guards Chris Babb (No. 499) and Keith Bogans (462) are among those at the tail end of ESPN.com’s annual ranking of the league’s 500 players.

[…] Other Boston players that landed in spots 400-500 unveiled on Monday included Phil Pressey (413th, 2.28 rating) and Chris Johnson (424th, 2.19).

Jeff Green and Avery Bradley couldn’t crack SI’s top 100. I assume Rondo is in the top 50, since SI unveiled 100-51 yesterday and Rondo wasn’t there, and he’s not in the “snubs” list I just linked to either.

I don’t put much stock in these rankings in that I don’t care if Rondo is ranked 30th or 20th or whatever.  He’s in that mix and the rest is personal preference.  But having only one player in the top 100 of any ranking is a sure sign that you’re going to have a tough year.  I feel confident in saying you need more than a couple top 100 players to compete in this league.

The rest of the links:

NBA.com:  Celtics get a C in offseason report card  |  NY Daily News:  Garnett will start at PF for Brooklyn