Your Morning Dump… Where this is a big week

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.

There figures be plenty going on in the next few days that will go a
long way to determine how the Celtics look when the 2010-11 season opens
in four months.

The futures of Coach Doc Rivers and captain Paul Pierce are hanging in
the air with decisions due this week, and the free-agent market opens
for business at midnight on Thursday morning. 

“I’m not sure which things will fall first,’’ said president of
basketball operations Danny Ainge. “There’s a lot of pretty important
things that we’ll really get to here.’’

The Enterprise: Celtics have a busy week on tap

For the Celtics,
whose hopes are much simpler, the first important
date is Wednesday. If Paul
Pierce
doesn’t notify the team that he’s forgoing the last year of his
contract by that day, then the first piece of one last run at an NBA
title falls into place.

Doc Rivers, another cornerstone, also may roll into place, or
roll
away, by then.

Herald:
Important week tips off for Celtics

Get ready for a lot of "reports" and "sources say" over the next few days.

The good thing is… Doc's decision will have no deadline to it.  He can tell us whether he's coming back or not at any time.

I still say Doc's decision is going to have an effect on everything else.  It might mean Pierce takes his $21 million and waits to see what the new coach is like.  And that dramatically changes the long-term strategy of the Celtics.  Pierce's decision changes this year's cap number… and next year's. 

If he declines his option and comes back at a smaller number… it affects how much luxury tax will be paid this year.  It affects what cap space the C's will have next year.  It affects whether Pierce will even be back.

So yeah, this is a big week.  Doc said he was going to take this weekend to decide once and for all.  I'd expect a decision today or tomorrow.

The rest of the links:

Celtics Hub: Brad Miller-portrait of a big man on the decline  |  Celtics Town: Potential big men: The veterans  |  Pro Basketball Talk: Knicks target Joe Johnson first  |  Yahoo!: Phil Jackson's decision affected by George Karl