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.

“You can ask around. Talk to people on the teams he’s been on and they’ll tell you that,” said Thomas. “When he gets into that post, you can’t guard him. I’m excited. He brings a different dimension to this team that we don’t have.”

[…] “We don’t have a guy like him on our team — 6-foot-7, athletic, can put the ball in the basket in a variety of different ways,” said Thomas, who doesn’t doubt that Green will fit in Brad Stevens’ scheme.

“When you can score and you’re as athletic as he is, it’s easy to fit in. And he’s big. That’s not going to be a problem.”

Herald: Back with Celtics, Gerald Green now wizened vet

There’s been some talk about whether Gerald Green will make this team… mostly because he’s here on a veteran minimum deal. But I think we saw yesterday that he’s going to be part of this rotation. He played well enough to show he will be useful.

It’s odd… having followed this team forever, I look at Gerald Green and I’m suddenly transported back in time and I start having those same feelings I had when he was here in the pre-KG era. But he’s definitely grown a lot. 

Green is now the senior member of the Celtics 11 years after the club drafted him out of high school as a 19-year-old. He said he feels as if has some wisdom to offer his younger teammates.

“I still act like I’m the youngest,” Green said. “Of course [I offer advice] because I got that same advice [back then]. If I see a young guy pressing, I try to tell him to relax and play your game. I just try to give guys encouragement since I am the old vet now.”

I very interested to see what Gerald’s role will ultimately be on a fully healthy team and whether he can truly provide much-needed scoring from the reserves. The Celtics can certainly trot out a big lineup that puts him at the 2 or mix him in with Jaylen Brown to really up the alley oop potential. And if his long-distance touch returns, then that will just open things up for the second unit and give Marcus Smart/Terry Rozier some much-needed room to operate.

It will never not be odd to think of Gerald Green as a stabilizing veteran presence on the Celtics, but that potential does exist. If the Brad Stevens magic touch works on Green like it has with others, then the Celtics bench could actually be pretty good.

Related links:CSNNE: Heinsohn: Gerald Green is an elment C’s have been missing  |  Green: Felt good to put Celtics jersey on once again  |  ESPN Boston: Green admits its weird to be a Celtics veteran  |  MassLive: Green scrapes off rust in preseason debut  |  ProJo: Green getting up to speed

Page 2: Terry Rozier probably shouldn’t take charges

After taking a hard elbow from Christian Wood, Rozier headed straight to the locker room for the training staff to stitch up his wound.

“I was told he would’ve been back on the next play if I wouldn’t have had (another Celtics player) shoot the free throw,” Stevens said. “But when he went back to the locker room we didn’t have a choice. So he’s fine from everything I’ve been told.”

Rozier confirmed he wanted to return to the game, but couldn’t because of the rule.

“I just never took a charge ever in my life,” he laughed. “And you see what happens when you do.”

MassLive

Nice that the kid has a sense of humor about it. I thought the elbow caught him in the nose and Rozier would have to play in a face mask for a while. Good to see that he’s fine and the injury is not very serious and won’t have many lingering effects.

Related links: CSNNE: Elbow to Rozier’s face changes momentum in C’s win

And Finally…

You should read how Jae Crowder and his father worked out the Celtics anthem demonstration.

Corey Crowder told his son, if you decide to take a stand, people could confuse your message. Make sure the message is unified and strong.

“That’s basically how I wanted to approach it, get my point across in a positive way, because like I told you guys on media day, two wrongs don’t make a right,” Jae Crowder said. “I wanted to make it positive and my teammates felt the same way. It was easy for me to say I wanted to do something — at this stage we have — to make a change.”

There has been some discussion about whether the Celtics stand is strong enough or effective. Personally, I like that they are going back to something the Celtics did in the 60’s… when the struggle was much more difficult.

I don’t want to get too political on a sport blog but this important stuff, and these guys have the ability to at least start an important conversation. I’m constantly encouraged by the NBA’s social awareness and willingness to engage in serious topics. The league sets a great example for equality and consistently preaches that gender, race, and sexual orientation don’t matter… that we’re all people first. Sadly, it’s a message that is not always well-received. However, it’s supremely important to continue putting that message out there.

So I applaud Crowder and the Celtics for doing something. It’s a step… one of many… that need to be taken to heal a deep divide that still exists.

The rest of the links

Herald: In pivotal year, 76’ers unlikely to deal surplus talent to C’s  |  Notebook: Stevens shakes up lineup  

Globe: Horford leading the break is a new look

WEEI: Mickey shines, Rozier suffers injury in win