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.

And yet there are some who are convinced that Boston would be better off to pull up and let the pack race by it. They scoff at the idea that anything substantial is being gained in this playoff push and believe the Celtics are hurting their chance for a brighter future by playing for the postseason instead of pingpong balls.

This group of curmudgeons, who would prefer you get off their lawns, are not without logic (as misguided as it might be). A trip to the postseason almost certainly will be a short stay for Boston and assures the Celtics of drafting no better than 15th overall in June. But missing the playoffs means only a slight chance at vaulting in the lottery, which some believe is Boston’s best chance to add its next impact player.

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The Celtics are far from where they desire to be. But the notion that they are doing themselves no favors with a playoff push is a bit overstated. There is no surefire blueprint to rebuilding. It’s an impossible formula that leans heaviest on simply making more quality moves than bad ones, and taking advantage of opportunities when they arise.

What those grumpy Celtics fans have to do is put their faith in the likes of Danny Ainge and his front office staff. And Stevens, too. The Celtics have a lot of smart people in decision-making positions and fans simply have to trust that they will limit the missteps on the way back to contender status.

ESPN Boston: Embrace the Celtics playoff push

This is a not-so-thinly veiled response to Steve Bulpett’s we shouldn’t make the playoffs piece from a couple of days ago.

Frankly, I see merit in both sides. If I had a choice, I think I’d still rather take my chances in the lottery because I think getting lucky there has much more upside than getting lucky in the playoffs at this point, but realistically speaking, there will be almost no difference. Either way is a long-shot.

At this point, it doesn’t really matter much. If we’re going to look at what’s most likely, the difference in draft position will be negligible at this point. With 8 games left, the Celtics could, if they lost all 8, theoretically get a few more ping-pong balls, but I doubt that does much to get Boston out of that middle-of-the-first-round situation. So why not just embrace this team’s tenacity?

Yes, there’s a very valid argument that in a couple of years, when the rebuild is (theoretically) complete, many of these players might not even be here to put the (theoretically) beneficial playoff experience to good use. But, I will admit that the experience is probably better for Brad Stevens and staff than anyone.

The game is different in the playoffs. Timeouts are longer, rotations tighten, the adjustments are different against an opponent you have seen 3 or 4 times in a row… so Stevens getting a taste of this and throwing some new data in his analytical brain isn’t a bad thing at all. So I can definitely see some benefit to the Celtics for grabbing that 8th seed.

And the fans mostly love it. Even though I picked them to win 33 games this season, I didn’t think it’d go down like this, and this team clearly overachieved to get here. So if you’re not on board yet, might as well hop on for the final 8 games because, well, why the hell not?

Here’s how things shake out after last night’s games.

Brooklyn beat Indy and is now the 8th seed. The Celtics can do some real damage to the Pacers’ playoff hopes by beating them tonight and putting 2 full games between them with 7 games left. Brooklyn plays the Knicks, so it’s especially important to win tonight because the Nets are on a roll and their 5th straight win looks inevitable. Charlotte is at Detroit, and a loss there with a Celtics win would put them 2.5 back of Boston and fading fast in the race. Milwaukee, meanwhile, hosts Chicago… and they’re still worth watching because they play Boston twice. It might not mean the Celtics vault into 6th, but it could mean a Miami/Brooklyn/Boston 6/7/8 seeding in a couple of weeks.

And how huge is Friday? Charlotte at Indy and Milwaukee at Boston?  Wow.

Related links:  CSNNE: Celtics look to march on into April

Page 2: Brad Stevens keeps getting mentioned for college jobs

The University of Texas, which recently fired head men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes, has reportedly joined the growing list of Brad Stevens suitors. Of course, the University of Texas has also joined the growing list of institutions Danny Ainge will laugh at before hanging up the phone.

Brad Stevens is under contract through 2019 at a bargain average annual rate of $3.7 million. Unlike collegiate sports — where contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on — the Celtics would have to agree to let their coach out of the deal, and let’s be clear: That ain’t happening.

WEEI: Texas, like everybody, is chatting about Brad Stevens

Unlike the Clippers, neither Texas nor Indiana nor any other college program can offer Danny Ainge any incentive to let his coach out of his deal, even IF Stevens wanted out. And I’m pretty sure Stevens doesn’t want out.

Stevens has made it clear he wants to succeed at the highest levels of coaching. Maybe after he wins a championship or two with the Celtics, he’ll get the college itch again. But he’s not going to abandon the NBA, where people are starting to call him one of the best in-game coaches around, and where he’s gotten a rag-tag bunch into a playoff race, to go back to college.

Sorry, fans of whatever school you’re at that found this on some Google search. Brad Stevens is an NBA coach, and the Celtics aren’t going to allow him to be anything but an NBA coach for, at least, the duration of this contract. And quite frankly, even if he tried to leave, I think Celtics fans would build a human wall around his property to prevent that from happening.

We like our coach. You can’t have him.

Related links: MassLive: Stevens loosely linked to Texas job

And Finally….

… Steph Curry tells Chris Paul to sit down…

Oh Mamma that Steph Curry is a nasty man…

The rest of the links

Globe: Wallace embraces role with Celtics  |  Herald: Smart digs in on D  |  CSNNE: Davis fined for kicking seat cushion into crowd  |  Crazy 8’s for Celtics  |  ESPN Boston: Wallace soars in limited role