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.

The Celtics were 13 games under .500 in late January and had just dropped the first game of a six-game road trip out west that most expected would ensure Boston, which had already overhauled its roster with in-season trades that shipped out Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green, would swim in a vat of pingpong balls by season’s end.

Bradley, ever the optimist, pleaded that Boston could turn things around. During an offday workout during a three-day break in the schedule, Bradley said, “We’re almost there, but we have to continue to be positive and believe in Brad Stevens.”

That next game, the Celtics stunned the Portland Trail Blazers when Evan Turner hit a last-second 3-pointer off a crazy scramble. One night later in Denver, it was Bradley hitting a series of clutch late-game jumpers for another one-point victory over the Nuggets.

Three months later, after a furious late-season surge delivered the Celtics to the playoffs and a first-round matchup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bradley smiles now reflecting on Boston’s surge. He can admit that he might have been more positive vocally than he felt inside, but stresses that the key for Boston never changed.

Believing in Brad Stevens.

ESPN Boston – In Brad they trust

Here we are. A few hours away from the renewal of a rivalry between the Celtics and LeBron James. A team overloaded with basketball talent against a team full of smart role players who believe in a great system. Cleveland fans dismiss us as a formality in their championship process, but that’s not our concern. Brad has this team focusing on the game ahead and nothing else.

We’re still in the the midst of Stevens’ arrival party — but regardless of how this series plays out, I think this summer (and later on), we’ll look back at this season and think “wait, how the hell?”. Yes, the Eastern Conference pales in comparison to the West, but again, that’s not our concern. The fact is that if this team were under Doc Rivers or 95% of the other coaches in this league, we’d be repeatedly refreshing ESPN’s mock draft simulator right now. Maybe that’s where we should be, but this is so much better.

We won’t win the title this year, but now Brad Stevens has a set a bar for himself. The marinade of his coaching style has taken its effect on the Celtics’ malleable roster. Players who come here in the summer will be able to learn not only from Brad, but from the players who believe in and understand his system and schemes. And being able to show it all off on a national stage won’t hurt either.

Page 2: Gigi and Jonas have a breakfast club

There’s a Waltham hotel that should be proclaimed Patron Saint of Transitory Basketball Players, so many have stayed there.

Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome occasionally meet for breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and the trees and glass buildings outside somehow feel more soothing to the Swede and Italian than a similar sprawl in their previous NBA home of Auburn Hills, Mich., earlier this season.

“I’ve known Gigi a long time,” Jerebko recently said with a smile. “We played against each other when we were in Italy in our younger days too. We’ve both been through it. He was in Detroit for two years and I was there for six.”

So they talk about it — the1 1⁄2 largely inactive seasons for Datome on his first NBA team, and Jerebko’s declining minutes in his latter seasons as a Piston.

Then they talk about where that Feb. 19 trade landed them.

Boston Herald – Celtics season changed when hungry players arrived at trade deadline

I suggest reading through the rest of the article — it details all the players who arrived (and stayed) through the trades. It’s kind of a bummer to think that we can’t keep all these guys around. The reality is that talent upgrades are needed and roster spots will be thin with four draft picks this summer. Hopefully Danny can condense those picks into something better than four rookies, but either way, it’d be surprising if Gigi manages to stay here past this season.

Jonas and Jae are different stories, as I think they’re a solid chance they’re both kept in Boston. But in the meantime, let’s enjoy the hell out of this island of misfit basketball players that have become the 2014-15 Boston Celtics.