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.

RPM was developed by Jeremias Engelmann and Steve Ilardi to estimate a player’s on-court impact on team performance, measured in net point differential per 100 offensive and defensive possessions. RPM takes into account teammates, opponents and additional factors. When used along with playing time projections, it’s proved to be a very accurate predictive tool overall.

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2. Boston Celtics
Projected wins: 49.8

Last year, RPM nailed the Celtics’ 48-win finish, though the Raptors jumped ahead of Boston to take second in the East. Now, RPM sees the Celtics taking a modest step forward with the addition of Al Horford.

ESPN (Insider): Projected 2016-17 records and standings for every NBA team

We’re deep into the August projections and ESPN’s latest numbers push the Celtics to basically a 50-win season and the 4th-best projection in the NBA.

Like they said, they nailed some things last year, but they missed some things last year. They’ve got the Warriors at 67 wins but my calculations have them at 85 wins (my formula might need some tweaking). The East plays out kind of like how I have been talking about on various podcasts and on Twitter… Boston and Toronto are pretty much at the same level, and then there are a bunch of teams in a jumbled heap. They’ve got the Pistons projected out pretty high, which I can see (I can also see them falling off… lots of wildcards here). Indy, Miami, and Atlanta all fight for the 8th seed in this scenario and the alleged “Super Team” Knicks, about which Derrick Rose STILL is horribly misguided, fall third from the bottom.

Maybe most importantly… Brooklyn is projected to be the third-worst team in the NBA.

Bottom line here is while it’s way too early and there are still a lot of variables, Boston’s in the mix for that 2nd seed in the East and a pretty high record overall while Brooklyn continues to feed the Celtics a potential superstar in the 2017 draft.

It’s shaping up to be a pretty fun season (parenthetical remark aimed at not jinxing things to satisfy those people who believe in jinxes).

Page 2: RJ Hunter is super inspired by being written off

Several league sources have indicated that second-year guard R.J. Hunter, third-year forward James Young, 27-year-old wing John Holland, and rookie forward Ben Bentil will compete for the last roster spot. Young and Hunter have guaranteed deals, Bentil has a partial guarantee, and Holland is nonguaranteed.

[…] “I’m a competitor, so it’s just absolutely motivation for me,” Hunter said in a telephone interview. “I think it just adds an extra competitive spirit to training camp, which is a great way to get the year started.

“So I’d rather have it that way, because now I have no reason not to be on my toes on every possession and at every practice. So I’ll try to use it to my advantage.”

Globe: R.J. Hunter motivated by competition for last Celtics roster spot

I’ve spoken a bunch about this but I’ll reiterate my stance…

The Celtics have 19 guys.

Unless James Young has the most amazing camp ever, he is gone. John Holland (non-guaranteed deal) is gone. Marcus Georges-Hunt (non-guaranteed camp deal) is gone. That’s 16.

It boils down to RJ Hunter and Ben Bentil. Bentil is intriguing, but he has to really show a lot of potential to become a true stretch-4 to make this team. The Celtics could value his versatility and, if he can be somewhat reliable as a shooter, see him as an overall upgrade in that 15th spot.

However…

It’ll cost Boston $250k to cut Bentil and $1.2 million to cut Hunter. If it comes down to that, the economics point to Hunter sticking around. There’s always the possibility that Bentil gets moved for a 2nd rounder or something in a minor deal to open up a spot.

I still believe in Hunter becoming a solid pro. I like his ability to make decisions off the dribble and I think some minor tweaks with his shot can make it more reliable. But it’s up to him to put in the work to get stronger and better. If he’s truly motivated by this, then my money is on him to at least hold on for one more season. The Celtics hold a team option next summer, so they may decide to put off the decision until then.

And Finally…

Terry Rozier needs to chill with his Snapchat.

WARNING… VERY NSFW LINK TO FOLLOW!!!

Here’s the VERY NSFW link to Terry Rozier’s naked stripper-filled Snapchat

Let me make one thing clear…

Terry Rozier is a 22-year-old man who makes a little bit of money so if he wants to throw a few hundred at strippers at some place in August, then he’s allowed to do that. Regardless of where you land on this morally, this is a legal activity that many men of all ages participate in on a nightly basis.

That said…

C’mon Terry, you gotta be smarter than that. Don’t open yourself up to all the bullshit involved with people making judgments about your life. Yeah, you’re 22 and you’re a little rich so you can ball out if you want, but once you put this out there people are going to make judgments about you on a personal level that you won’t be able to shake.

And yeah, I know your 22-year-old self might throw a middle finger in the air, cup your balls, and scream IDGAF, but you work in a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. You have to at least be a little conscious of your image because it’s a reflection on other people… specifically your teammates and team management.

I’m not telling you don’t do this stuff. Go live your life and enjoy it. It’s all legal and everyone’s a willing participant so you’re not doing anything wrong… but keep your private life a little more private.

I can’t believe this is something that needs to be said but… A stripper-filled Snapchat story is always a bad idea.

The rest of the links:

CSNNE: Make or break season for Olynyk? | Could the 80’s Celtics have won 8 championships?

MassLive: Mock draft 2017: Harry Giles of Duke to Boston, says Chad Ford  |  Isaiah Thomas: We’ll miss Evan Turner but Marcus Smart will be ready