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

The Celtics are, indeed, willing to entertain offers for Rondo, but unless another club puts something truly amazing to Ainge’s head, it’s hard to see him pulling the trigger on such a trade at this time.

In trying to figure out the time coordinates of his rebuilding project, you’d have to think the knowledge of where the Celts will be drafting this June is a critical piece of information.

If things don’t pan out in the lottery and the project seems as if it will be delayed, it makes sense to look hard into moving Rondo, who turns 28 on Saturday. If the shamrocks align on May 20, then you could be accelerating the process. The Celts could then be looking to package assets to find solid components to put around Rondo and a high draftee.

In other words, with the aforementioned unrefusable offer exception, it would behoove Ainge to wait.

Boston Herald – Lotto luck key to Rondo decision

Whether you want to see Rondo traded by tomorrow or see him resigned for five years with a no-trade clause thrown in, most fans are anxious to see what his future is in Boston. Unfortunately for the concerned fan, the Herald’s Steve Bulpett explains that it makes far less sense to seriously consider moving Rondo now, unless the trade being offered is something dream worthy. If the C’s somehow managed to pull off a top-three pick this year, it’d likely mean adding either Embiid, Parker, or Wiggins. Having Rondo available, besides being a winner of an NBA championship an all, would help accelerate the growth of any of those three players. It’d make the C’s much closer to returning to an elite status, provided our draft pick doesn’t turn out to be a bust.

But say Embiid and Parker decide to stick in school, and the Celtics land the eighth pick. How long would it delay the rebuild? And would it be worth extending Rondo through age 32 or 33, or would it benefit the C’s to move him to a team that could use him now? If Ainge tried seriously to move Rondo, it would likely be before this year’s draft, with the intention of landing more picks, and with the idea that Rondo wouldn’t agree to an extension anywhere, so trading him would have to give another team enough time to prove themselves a worthy destination. The whole thing must be annoying for Rondo, a guy who’s clearly saying he wants to stay in Boston, but we all know Danny isn’t afraid to part with fan favorites.

Page 2: Bradley and Faverani staying home on road trip

he Celtics will be a bit short-handed when they face the Suns on Wednesday, and it has nothing to do with the upcoming trade deadline.

Both Avery Bradley (ankle) and Vitor Faverani (knee) did not travel with the team for their four-game West coast trip which kicks off against the Suns.

Bradley underwent an MRI recently that confirmed his current injury is a re-aggravation of a previous sprained ankle that had sidelined him for five straight games. It is unclear when Bradley who has missed eight of Boston’s last 11 games due to the injury, will resume playing.

CSNNE – Bradley, Faverani don’t travel with Celtics

This means the Celtics will be without their starting shooting guard for at least the next four games (Suns, Lakers, Kings, Jazz). If you’re the type of fan who wants to see the team lose, we’ll be going head-to-head with some of the league’s worst teams pretty soon. According to ESPN’s Lottery Mock Draft Machine, Los Angeles and Sacramento are two “seeds” ahead of us for the top pick, while Utah is one behind. Losing Bradley should increase our chances of losing, (again, if you’re into that type of thing). Additionally, Rondo confirmed he still isn’t ready to play back-to-backs, meaning our entire starting backcourt will be out of service against the Kings this Saturday. Of course all of this could be completely different depending on how the trade deadline pans out, so stay tuned.

And finally, the C’s get to reunite with Gerald Green tonight

Boston plays Phoenix tonight, a team who should be dead tired after hanging on to beat the Nuggets in overtime late last night. Old friend Gerald Green just happened to mess around and post a career high 36 points in the process (11-22 from the field). One would assume the Suns will be zonked after last night, but this team is still pretty young and usually full of energy. It’ll be fun to see what Gerald cooks up for an encore performance, particularly without Bradley available to guard him.

The rest of the links:

CSNNE – Rondo on rumors: I go through this every year | What would it take for you to trade Rondo? | Rondo Marked not what C’s want it to be

Masslive – Gordon Hayward draws Boston’s interest | Rondo ‘highly likely’ to stay in place | Rondo wanted by Knicks, despite them knowing attepts will be ‘futile’

Boston Herald – Brandon Bass takes stance | Stevens stays unfazed by trade talk | NBA Roundup: James scores 42, Heat pull away from Mavs