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 weather didn’t cooperate with us, because it would have been nice to have practiced [Monday] and then practice [Tuesday], and really gotten a lot of work done,” said Stevens. “We haven’t had a chance to practice hardly at all in the last three or four weeks. It is strange, we’ll be off from Thursday until the following Wednesday. We’ll see how we respond to that when we go out west. I would have liked to have had [Monday] to practice, that’s for sure.”

ESPN Boston: Day off snow fun for Stevens

“For the first time in a while you had a chance to breathe and see, ‘OK, this is what we’re doing really well. This is where we need to get a little bit better,’ ” Stevens said. “You’re on a never-ending quest to maximize your team. Until you get there — which you never do — until you get there, you’ve always got something else to be working on.”

Globe: Extra downtime gives Stevens chance to assess Celtics

Well the one thing that has been working fairly well for the Celtics lately is spacing the floor with shooters and letting Jared Sullinger work with the extra room in the middle.  Lineups that have featured some combination  Marcus Thornton, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, and yes, James Young, have done well with a big in recent games (Celtics Blog had a nice breakdown last week).

As we’ve said before, we’re suddenly seeing a little bit of what Brad Stevens consistently wants to see from the Celtics.

Of course, it’s just in time for the trade deadline.

Tonight is the last game before the trade deadline, leaving the Celtics with a lot of time off, and the possibility that their West Coast trip will involve a radically new cast of characters.

“One thing that I’ve learned is just kind of be ready for anything and coach that team that’s there as well as you can,” he said. “The biggest challenge of the last year and a half has been constant movement. We’re talking about, how do you come together in two or three weeks? It’s not feasible against the competition you’re playing. That’s why the young guys and the people that have been here have to continue to move forward and be better, and everybody has done a pretty good job of that. To their credit, they’ve all done so unselfishly, which is aided in that act greatly.”

If there’s a plus side at all to the trade deadline it’s that Danny Ainge isn’t looking to take back players. Guys like Bass, Thornton, or Prince will all most likely go for draft picks… if they go at all. There’s the chance a young guy might come back in a trade and get some minutes for the Celtics to evaluate him. Of course, they could go the Andre Dawkins route with someone too and evaluate him that way.

Beyond that, there is also the return of Kelly Olynyk, which could also force Stevens to alter a plan that has at least brought some recent success.

“We’ll figure it out when we get there,” Stevens said. “I think the small lineup has been one of our better lineups with the exception of the Philly game in the second half. But I think we’ll figure that out when we get there. We’re going to do whatever’s best for our team.”

[…] “It’s pretty good. It works really, really well,” Jared Sullinger said of the small-ball, “because Jae’s a physical defender. He can guard multiple positions. But at the same time you always want a 7-footer in there when you get a chance.”

He added with a smile: “So we don’t mind having Kelly back.”

Olynyk could certainly be substituted for one of the smaller guys and still stretch the floor. I think he remains enough of a threat out there that it won’t radically change the root of what’s making the small-ball successful. While we’re all wondering if Olynyk’s return will hurt the team’s newfound on-court chemistry… there’s a chance it will enhance it. Brandon Bass can’t stretch the floor like Olynyk can. Neither can Tyler Zeller. So if pace and space is the key for Brad Stevens, Olynyk can provide a counter to another team’s size while maintaining the spacing on the floor.

Of course, we’ll have to wait and see. These games out west will provide a much tougher test than the Celtics have seen recently.

Related links:  Herald: Stable roster helps Brad Stevens  |  CSNNE:  Hawks continuity something Stevens hopes for  |  MassLive: Snow hurts practice time, Zeller reflects on Dean Smith

And Finally…

…. put some goggles on…. you’re going to need them to see this:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Get ready for a lot more of these… things… on players because NBA players are about to put on the first ever fashion show at All Star weekend

Produced by LeBron James‘ Springhill Production Company, the one-hour “NBA All-Star All-Style” will be taped Friday night inside New York’s Hammerstein Theater and air Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST on TNT.

It will have three rounds: dressing for the boardroom, a night out and attire worn to the game. The competition will start with eight players, with four advancing to the second round and the top two competing in the finals.

A fashion show presented by LeBron’s production company. I can already hear Chuck pouring his drink of Clorox.

The rest of the links:

CSNNE:  Randolph has fond memories of Dean Smith  |  Olynyk improving, but unlikely tonight  |  ESPN Boston: Stevens has 1,000 reasons to study Pop  |  WEEI: How to fix All Star weekend