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

“How versatile a lot of our players are, they should be able to guard multiple positions,” Bradley said before practice Saturday. “It’s going to be hard for teams to score on us. It’s going to be really hard. It’s going to be fun to watch us this year. You aren’t able to see some of our training camp practices, but we battle, man. And we’re talking mess. And it’s hard for people to score on us on a consistent basis.”

MassLive: Avery Bradley very excited about Boston Celtics defense

“Like I said, it’s hand-in-hand with how you play as an individual and your team success,” Bradley said. “How far we can go this year, hopefully I can show and the rest of my teammates can show how good we are on defense.”
[…] “Hopefully the entire NBA can believe that I’m one of the best defenders,” Bradley said.

CSNNE: Bradley hopes to take next step on D

“If we’re playing well this year, I’ll give myself a chance [to compete for the Defensive Player of the Year award] because, to be honest, I feel like I should always be in that conversation,” said Bradley. “I think I’ve [been left off the] defensive team because of our [lack of] success in the past. We weren’t winning as many games and I’m not going to name some players, but when I was looking at the list I’m like, ‘That person got more votes?’ It’s just because they had a better year, they played longer, they were on TV more — all those things help you out. This year, I feel like the amount of TV games and how we should be playing this year should be able to help me be in that conversation.”

ESPN Boston: Avery Bradley: I should always be in Defensive Player of the Year conversation

I might have gone out on a limb in the ESPN Boston summer preview series when I (and Mass Live’s Tom Westerholm) predicted DPOY for Avery Bradley, but he’s got that goal in mind for himself this year… and I think it’s achievable. If you missed it, here’s my rationale:

Let’s take the next step with Bradley, shall we? First-team All-Defense puts him on the map with the media. Every time he locks guys down, you’ll hear announcers refer to his All-Defense selection and that has an influence on the voters. Boston could be the second-best team in the East, and if the Celtics finish with a top-flight defense, Bradley could be the go-to vote for voters who (a) shun Kawhi Leonard because of the defensive dip San Antonio takes without Tim Duncan anchoring them and (b) shun Draymond Green because Golden State is too loaded to be handing anyone defensive awards. Bradley could be the guy voters are looking for to make a justified protest vote.

I will say that it is exceedingly difficult for a guard to get this award. While the award was dominated by guards at the beginning (Sidney Moncrief won the first two in 1983 & 1984, then Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, and Michael Jordan in ’86, ’87, and ’88), No guard has won it since Gary Payton in 1996. It’s an award now dominated by big men who block shots or, in the case of Kawhi Leonard, a big wing that can do it all.

For Bradley to be in serious consideration, those other guys would, like I said, have to have demerits against them in the eyes of the voters, a guy like Hassan Whiteside would have to have a drop-off (so he doesn’t get the “here’s a guy who could have won last year so let me give him votes this year” bump in the minds of voters), and the Celtics would have to be a top 2 or 3 defensive team.  On top of all that, Bradley would have to have a season full of signature highlights (or another one) that can stick in a voter’s mind.

You know, plays like this…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dISWWWDQdCM]

So he’ll have to basically continue being Avery Bradley, I guess. If he can continue getting guys to beg him to back off and rip people clean all season, then he’ll be on his way.

One other element to this that helps him out…

Now that he’s First Team All Defense, I wouldn’t put it past officials to give him more benefit of the doubt when it comes to iffy physical plays. That will allow him to body guys up a bit more and get a little more leeway when it comes to reaching in for steals.

It’s still an uphill battle for Bradley to win it, but I think it’s more within reach than most other observers. I think it’s possible.

Page 2: Ainge’s plan is coming together

“We have good ownership, good coaching staff, and good management, and we’re all working together and trying to better our team. And everybody seems to be on the same page on when to pull the trigger on a deal and when not to. It was a pretty good summer.”

The rebuilding plan consisted of compiling draft picks and salary cap space to make a run at Durant and Horford. The Celtics still own Brooklyn’s first-round pick in 2018 — plus the right to swap first-round picks with the Nets in 2017 — and first-round picks from the Clippers and Grizzlies in 2019.

Ainge promised the Celtics would continue to be aggressive in acquiring players, but the right trade is never easy and usually complicated.

“There are opportunities, but weighing risk and opportunity is challenging in this business. So we’ll be in that position for a little while. We have a lot of assets,” Ainge said. “We have a lot of good, young players and we like all of our young players. So it’s an exciting time to be a Celtic.

“We do have higher expectations this year, higher than we’ve had in the past. We’re building toward a championship, so we need to take another step. There’s a lot of formulas to success, a lot of formulas to win. But we do know that talent wins, chemistry wins. Health wins, and we’re trying to do the best we can in all categories.”

Globe: This may be the year Danny Ainge has been waiting for

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwozVKOkzz4]

I know we all love to live in the moment in this Hot Take Era, but the reality is we have to wait to see how to judge this rebuild. This is a big year in this judgement because players deemed as failures or draft whiffs can prove themselves to be key elements in an important season.

Just think about how some of your opinions might change if Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart, and Terry Rozier take big steps forward? These are all guys who’ve dealt with varying levels of criticism, fair or not, over their careers so far. If these players take big steps forward, then Ainge’s vision is validated. They will either become key pieces of the future, or valuable trade chips in a deal for a superstar.

And really, that’s been the biggest hurdle in Ainge’s plan. Outside observers look at these role players with a bit of disdain… wondering why Celtics fans would ever think a team would be happy to take Olynyk back in a deal for a star player. The Celtics roster is full of promising young guys… but promises only get you so far in the “what have you done for me lately” world of NBA roster building.

So this is as big a year for Ainge’s vision as it is for the team’s overall success. After a week of training camp, the optimism is sky-high and everyone is feeling really good about improving. But last year at this time we felt good about running an offense through David Lee… so… we have to temper our enthusiasm a little bit because shit changes in the regular season.

And Finally….

Gerald Green learned some hard lessons over the course of his career. But he swears things have changed… 

“When I came out of high school, I was a little kid,” Green said. “I didn’t understand the business. Once I went overseas and had this real motivation to get back, I was willing to do whatever it took to stick in this league, and that’s what I did.”

It’s good to see a guy learn his lessons and get back into the league. I remember being in Las Vegas and watching him play for the Lakers as he tried to hook back onto a team in the NBA. I remember looking at him make the same mistakes over and over again and thinking he’s never going to make it in this league because he just doesn’t care to do things the right way.

But sometimes guys grow up later than others. And thanks to the proliferation of basketball worldwide, they have a chance to either go make money in a league that requires less of them in that regard, or go overseas and learn why certain things didn’t work out.

Green has done enough now to become a solid pro at the NBA level. There’s a chance he won’t make much of an impact in Boston, but he’s put himself in a position to be a key contributor. The opportunity is there for the taking. It’s up to him to seize it.

The rest of the links:

CSNNE: Marcus Smart: shooting game was “my main focus” this summer  |  Young one of the “tough decisions” facing Celtics

MassLive: Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart “playing at a really, really good level”

Herald: Marcus Smart takes a shot at improving outside game  |  Pierce’s relentlessness key to his legacy with Celtics

ProJo: Former Friar Bentil a longshot to make Celtics roster