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.

“His defense has improved, it’s night and day from when he came in [as a rookie],” Stevens said before the game. “Just like in our situation with all our bigs, there’s a lot of competition back there as far as playing time goes. He’s doing a good job. He’s progressing the right way, getting stronger, working on his ball-handling. He works on his shooting. Defensively, just systematically, the game has slowed down quite a bit for him.”

[…] “I think the biggest thing is you look at [Young’s] youth and you remember he’s a college junior if he was still in college but a college sophomore age-wise,” Stevens said. “And then you look at the fact that obviously he came from a very unique situation at Kentucky where from what I saw, they did a lot of switching [defensively]. They utilized their strengths as that team to really dominate opponents.”

Globe: Young still learning place in Celtics rotation

Fans can be very impatient. They can be very “now now now” when it comes to a player’s development and not really take things like youth and amount of learning into account. They sometimes do things like spend time on podcasts bemoaning a player’s lack of production.

Yes, I’m talking about me.

When I type the sentence “the coach says the youngest player on the team is improving a bit, but still has a lot to learn” no one bats an eye. Of course the youngest player on the team is going to need some time getting up to NBA speed.

But I say “James Young is improving a bit, but he still has a lot to learn,” it stirs up a different reaction.

It’s probably because we’re all mesmerized by his Red Claws numbers from last year. The guy averaged 21.5 points and 5 rebounds in the D-League. He dominated. He shot 44% from 3! 49% from 2!

But the D-League is full of guys who’ll never make it to the NBA, which (a) means it’s easier for talented guys to succeed and (b) doesn’t necessarily prepare guys for NBA-level talent.

If I’m going to trust Brad Stevens implicitly to run this team, I’m going to have to trust him when he says Young’s defense is improving at the rate he says it is. I’m going to trust that he’s going to give Young the tools and guidance that he needs, and then hope Young takes that time and tutelage and does something with it.

There is no doubt right now that he needs the time. RJ Hunter has easily passed him in the rotation, so Young is going to get plenty of time to work on his game. For now, we’re just going to have to be patient with him and hope he’s ready to be a contributor in a year or two.

Page 2: Sully is being pretty good about falling out of the rotation

And with teams going deeper into their benches than usual in the preseason, Boston has turned to Jonas Jerebko as the team’s fifth big man with Sullinger usually entering games afterwards.

That is not what Sullinger was anticipating in this, a contract year.

Considering the lack of playing time Sullinger is getting, it’s highly unlikely that the Celtics will get an extension done with the former first round pick by the Nov. 2 deadline.

The decrease in playing time has not impacted him, Sullinger says.

“It doesn’t affect me at all,” he told reporters following Friday’s loss to New York. “You have to be a pro’s pro and be ready when you’re time comes.”

CSNNE: Sullinger still waiting for his chance

There’s some kid somewhere who watches Celtics games with his parents and thinks Sullinger’s name is “odd man out.” That’s the phrase that’s been used to describe him all month long. And after last night’s game, it’s pretty obvious that that’s exactly what he is right now.

This is a trying time for Sullinger. He’s coming off a year where he lost significant time to injury, months of people talking about his weight, and summer where the Celtics beefed up his position. Now we’re here, and it’s pretty obvious that he’s lost ground to almost every big in Boston. He’s up for a contract extension, which he most certainly will not receive at this point, and entering restricted free agency.

To sum it up, it’s not going well right now. If this continues, Sullinger will be out millions of dollars and he might be off to a new team next summer. This is a prime time for Sullinger to lose his cool and be a problem.

Right now, though, he’s not. And I don’t think he’s going to be. And if he continues not being a problem, then he’s going to earn a lot of respect from other teams, because he handled this situation like a professional. Just look at how people talked about David Lee.

Sullinger is a skilled big man who has a constant battle with his weight and conditioning. If he can win that battle, he’ll be fine. If he can continue being professional about this situation, then he’ll find a home somewhere, even if it’s not in Boston moving forward.

And Finally…

Floyd Mayweather tried to give Brad Stevens some advice last night…

“It is hard…” Thomas said before cutting himself off with a laugh, like he thought about needling his friend but decided against it. “I mean, yeah, he knows the game. He knows a lot because he watches so much of it.”

He just doesn’t know enough to deliver advice to Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.

“It’s funny because at halftime he pointed at Brad to come here like he was about to tell Brad something,” Thomas said. “Brad was like, nah, I’m good.”

I didn’t see this exchange last night, but I just love the image of Stevens locking eyes with Mayweather, Floyd motioning him over, and Brad shaking him off like Rick dismissing Gabriel on The Walking Dead.

Maybe Floyd was just going to ask for a job with the Celtics for when he blows all of his money on cars and gambling within the next 10 years.

The rest of the links

Herald: Lee still a broadway hit  |  C’s get sloppy in preseason loss   |  CSNNE: Steven on T: just came onto the court, I guess  |  Healthy Jones a healthy scratch  |  Young and Mickey excel  |  Olynyk aiming to improve from long range  |  ESPN Boston: Stevens draws rare tech  |  WEEI: Ainge’s 25 most consequential trades: 3- Hello, Ray Allen  |  MassLive: Hunter has been packing on the weight since NBA draft