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As we celebrate Labor Day, we wanted to take a brief moment to thank a bunch of hard-workers in the Boston Celtics blogging community that donated their time and talents to our Summer Forecast series last month. Fans here are lucky to have so many quality sites that closely track the team.

A big thank you to the folks at Red's Army, CelticsBlog, CelticsHub, MassLive, Celtics Life, CLNS Radio, Celtics Stuff Live, and Celtics Spot. For those that visit our little slice of the internet, we hope you make these sites part of your daily web travel as well. Without their help, we would never have built the community that we have here on ESPN Boston's Celtics Blog.

Here's a recap of the Summer Forecast series if you need some holiday reading:

A nice find by our friend's at Red's Army: Former Oral Roberts forward Damen Bell-Holter said the team has contacted him about being part of training camp. From the Alaska Sports Blog:

When the Boston Celtics call, you drop everything.

Just ask Hydaburg’s Damen Bell-Holter, who was in Germany about to begin his professional basketball career when the NBA team called his agent and invited the former Oral Roberts University star to training camp next month.

“My agent said I was on their list of guys they wanted to bring in,” Bell-Holter told me. “It’s really exciting. It’s a huge opportunity that doesn’t come around very often. Just that they knew my name is pretty cool.”

Bell-Holter, 22, was going to play in Italy before the team pulled its offer and he landed with a different team in Germany. Then the Celtics called and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Playing in the NBA is every player’s dream.

“This is what I want to do,” he said.

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound forward grew up rooting for the Celtics because Kevin Garnett is one of his favorite players. Garnett is no longer with the team, so there is an open spot at power forward. Bell-Holter would like nothing more than to fill it.

“Growing up, KG was my guy,” he said. “Even though he’s not there, going to training camp with a bunch of guys I’ve watched on TV is still really cool.”

Bell-Holter averaged a career-best 15.5 points and 9.4 rebounds last season at Oral Roberts. Other highlights included him scoring career-high 35 points and becoming the NCAA’s first 20-20 man, with 20 points and 20 rebounds in the same game.

He is the best big man from Alaska since Carlos Boozer.

Hop HERE to read the full story.

For what it's worth, Synergy data reflects well on Bell-Holter, who averaged a robust 1.004 points per play last season at Oral Roberts, ranking him in the 87th percentile among all Division 1 hoopsters. More than half (53.4 percent) of his possessions came in the post, but he also thrived on putbacks and transition opportunities. Defensively, he ranked well, too, allowing a mere 0.698 points per play, which ranked in the 80th percentile.

The Boston Celtics appear to have three invites lined up for training camp later this month.


Last week, guards Kammron Taylor (Wisconsin) and Chris Babb (Iowa State), and forward DeShawn Sims (Michigan), all Tweeted that they'd be camping with Boston. Camp bodies are typically roster longshots, but defray veteran reps, while receiving a chance to showcase their talents for an NBA audience.

One thing to keep in mind with invites is that some could wind up with the Maine Red Claws of the D-League. In recent seasons, Boston has shuffled camp cuts -- those that are often willing to shun more lucrative overseas offers to chase the NBA dream stateside -- to Maine for a chance to develop in Boston's affiliated system.

Last season, the Celtics moved Micah Downs (and late-camp signee Brian Cusworth) to Maine. During the 2010-11 season, Boston shuffled camp invites Stephane Lasme, Jamar Smith, and Tiny Gallon to the Red Claws.

The Celtics currently have 14 guaranteed contracts, plus the nonguaranteed pact of recently acquired Donte Green. Boston can dip below the luxury tax line by waiving Green and his $1 million salary received from Memphis in last month's trade for Fab Melo.

With Rajon Rondo rehabbing from a torn ACL and Jared Sullinger coming off back surgery, the Celtics could benefit from extra bodies at camp to absorb reps.

Sims has had two stints with the Red Claws (2010, 2012). He was a camp invite for Boston back in 2010 after going undrafted. He initially signed in Greece, but left soon to join Maine, where he was a D-League All-Star.

Our friends at CelticsBlog have a bit more on Sims and Taylor.

The Memphis Grizzlies waived center Fab Melo on Friday, just two weeks after acquiring him and cash considerations from the Boston Celtics in exchange for the nonguaranteed contract of Donte Green.

Some will wonder why the Grizzlies, straddling the luxury tax line themselves, would do a trade in which they gave away a nonguaranteed contract, only to waive the guaranteed contract they got in return. For Memphis there is two incentives: a small trade exception generated and those cash considerations.

As Hoops World's Eric Pincus pointed out, the Grizzlies received $1.66 million in cash from Boston. That's more than enough to cover the cost of Melo's 2013-14 salary ($1.31 million). The Grizzlies must believe they will be able to stay below the tax line and this was a way to get a future asset and a little extra cash in exchange for a player that wasn't going to make their roster anyhow.

The lingering question for Boston is whether Green will stick around through training camp and get a chance to make the roster. Boston currently has 14 guaranteed contracts and, by releasing Green, would save $1 million and dip below the luxury tax line.

Despite being jettisoned by two teams, this isn't such a bad deal for Melo, who seemingly referenced that by Tweeting, "2 checks!" soon after his Memphis release. Indeed, if he goes unclaimed on waivers and signs with another team (whether in the NBA or overseas) this season, he'll essentially be paid by two teams (the money Boston sent Memphis, and his new squad).

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens played in the pro-am at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Thursday at TPC of Boston in Norton and fielded some basketball questions after his round.

Asked about the health of rehabbing point guard Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger's recent statement that Rondo might not be back until December, Stevens told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette he wasn't sure where Sullinger got that timeline.

"I have never heard a timeline from [Rondo] and the latest that I've heard from our medical staff is that he's progressing really well," Stevens told the T&G.

Rondo underwent surgery to repair a partially torn ACL in mid-February. The Celtics set an aggressive timeline with hopes that Rondo might be ready for opening night in late October. Recently, teammates -- both past and present -- have hinted Rondo might not return until more towards December.

Stevens noted that he expects Rondo to return to the Boston area soon and confirmed that, at the moment, six members of next year's team have settled here for informal workouts ramping up to training camp in Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, MarShon Brooks, Avery Bradley, Vitor Faverani, and Phil Pressey. Other veterans like Jeff Green have been in and out of the team's facility this summer.

Each weekday for a three-week span, our summer panel of prognosticators -- a motley crew featuring our friends in the Celtics blogging community -- will join forces to tell you how the 2013-14 season will play out for Boston. We'll gaze into our crystal balls and attempt to answer all your questions before this season's team even hits the floor together for the first time.

Today's Celtics Summer Forecast topic: What is the most intriguing story line at camp?

Training camp is still a month away, but the 2013-14 season is slowly ramping up. Players are trickling into the team's training facility in Waltham for informal workouts and the hype machine (yes, even for a team in transition) ought to be spinning by the middle of September in advance of camp.

We asked our prognosticators to give us their take on some of the more endearing story lines as camp approaches. Not surprisingly, most are interested in how 36-year-old first-year head coach Brad Stevens will put his stamp on the franchise, while, on the court, much of the interest lies in the backcourt as Boston is thin on ball-handlers if Rajon Rondo is not ready to start the season, and there's a surplus of shooting guards.

What am I most interested in? There's an awful lot of areas that intrigue me about this new-look team. A few that ought to be at the top of the watch list when camp arrives:

• Stevens in the spotlight: After being hired in early July, Stevens stressed that he would utilize the three-month ramp to his first NBA training camp to absorb everything he could about his players and would enter camp ready to maximize their potential. It will be fascinating to see how veteran players -- even on a very young roster -- respond to his early sessions and how he starts this process of implementing his system.

• Rondo Watch: Rehabbing point guard Rondo has managed to keep a low profile this summer and we'll get a better idea of his return timeline around camp. His teammates (past and present) have all seemingly pointed to a potential December return, but it's unclear if that's speculation or inside info. Whether Rondo is ready or not, his ability to be the leader of a young team will be under the microscope.

• Position battles: We've said it before, but go ahead and name the starting 5. No easy task, right? For the first time in a long time, jobs are wide open, especially at overstocked positions like shooting guard and power forward. But Boston has to find a balance between building for the future, and showcasing some players that might make quality trade assets if they can reestablish their value. I want to see how exactly Stevens and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge balance all of that.

Read on to see what jumps out to our panel.

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Our friends at CelticsSpa -- a Spanish language Celtics fan site -- got another chance to interview new Boston center Vitor Faverani. Hop HERE for a glimpse from the first interview, or HERE for the most recent.

One highlight from the latest interview, which the site has roughly translated to English from a podcast, is from a question posed to Faverani about developing chemistry with point guard Rajon Rondo:

VF: Well, I have not had the opportunity to work with him because he is recovering from his knee injury. I had a first contact, not with the head coach [Brad Stevens] but with his top assistant, who is training me and was with Rondo this week. Every time they talk about Rondo [it] is amazing, spotting his pick-and-roll play. I love setting screens, you can ask my former teammates, because they stopped me last year because it was almost hurting them. So if he is the player I believe he is, we will get along very well. He loves sharing the ball and has incredible passing skills, and I love setting screens to free him, so that he can decide to finish with a shot or a pass. It is up to him.

There's a lot of good stuff in there about Faverani's new jersey number (38), his early workouts with Boston, and his transition to the United States. Hop HERE to read more on CelticsSpa.

Sports Illustrated published a must-read article on new Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens in last week's issue and it's available online now. Here's a snippet on this year's team that closes the article, but the entire article offers an amazing glimpse into how Stevens climbed to the NBA level:

The lifelong learner spent his first six weeks engrossed in not just the details of NBA play and the skills of his personnel, but in grasping the immeasurable mystique of the leprechaun. "Trying to wrap my arms around why it's special to be a Celtic," says Stevens. He sat for an hour with Hall of Fame player, former coach and current broadcaster Tommy Heinsohn and talked on the phone with John Havlicek. He's exchanged texts with Dave Cowens. Much more in the present, he met with Rondo in July at Rondo's camp. "He's a big, big thinker," says Stevens. "Very intelligent, and a numbers guy. Just great talking with him."

In those early weeks Stevens worked to keep his foot near the brake pedal. The task is far too large to conquer quickly. "We're young," he says, "so developing as a team and as individuals is paramount." The schedule mocks him: just six days of training camp before the first exhibition game and 18 games in the first 30 days of the season, 10 of them on the road. "Holy smokes," says Stevens. "Very little time for practice."

Youth will sustain him. When he coached at Butler, he often invited friends like Monk and Burch to play pickup games at Hinkle on weekend mornings, never losing his wonder at working in such a place. Not long ago, Stevens explained the privilege of the game to second-year forward Jared Sullinger. "Man, I miss playing," said Stevens. "I miss trying to win 15 games in a row in open gym. Jogging on a treadmill is not near as much fun." Way back at Zionsville High, Isenbarger instructed him to never leave a gym without making his last shot. Here he stands with a ball in his hands and his laptop waiting on the second floor, wise enough not to take the first shot that would demand he shoot until the last one had fallen, but surely tempted.

He walks through the weight room and up the stairs toward his office. Overlooking the single flight of carpeted steps is a giant portrait of Auerbach, standing in the rafters of the new Garden with a cigar clenched between the teeth of his wicked smile, banners over his head and parquet in the distance. Stevens lifts his chin and smiles at the photo without breaking stride. "No pressure there," he says. And then he is back to his work. Chasing it, thinking it, learning it.

Hop HERE to read the full story from SI's Vault.

Each weekday for a three-week span, our summer panel of prognosticators -- a motley crew featuring our friends in the Celtics blogging community -- will join forces to tell you how the 2013-14 season will play out for Boston. We'll gaze into our crystal balls and attempt to answer all your questions before this season's team even hits the floor together for the first time.

Today's Celtics Summer Forecast topic: What is the most intriguing game of the season?

Let's be honest here, this was the easiest question of the forecast. When the Brooklyn Nets visit on Sunday, Jan. 26, it will be Boston's Super Bowl (even if it's the bye week before the big gridiron game). The return of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will undoubtedly be one of the biggest stories of the 2013-14 season. It's going to be an insanely emotional night at TD Garden and, even if Tom Brady and the Patriots are trekking to New York around the same time, hoops will dominate the Boston sports world that night (and maybe that night only next season).

When we polled our panel, the only question was whether the Celtics-Nets game would be a unanimous decision. Just about everyone agreed that it doesn't get any bigger than Jan. 26, but some in our blogger crew did a nice job trying to highlight some less-obvious dates on the calendar. And since you'll be reading plenty about Jan. 26 from our panel, allow us to use this space to highlight three other games that pique our interest next season:

• Jan. 5 at Oklahoma City: The Thunder actually serve as the appetizer for the big Nets visit with a tilt in Boston on Jan. 24, and yet a rare Kevin Durant appearance here will be completely overshadowed by the Pierce/KG return two nights later. With Jeff Green set to be thrust into a blazing green spotlight this season, the Jan. 5 visit to Oklahoma City intrigues us because it's a chance for Green to show the team that traded him away what he's fully capable of in a starring role. Oh, and Rajon Rondo vs. Russell Westbrook is always fun, too.

• Feb.21 at Los Angeles Lakers: The trade deadline is Feb. 20 and Boston spends an offday trekking from Phoenix to Los Angeles. Every meeting with the Lakers is a big deal -- even if both teams are projected to struggle this season -- but the curiosity of how Boston's post-deadline roster will look adds a dash of spice to this rivalry game.

• Dec. 8 at New York Knicks: The Celtics have an overhauled roster that sort of diminishes this playoff rematch. But while everyone's all hyped for the other Empire State rival, here's why the Knicks game is interesting to us: Avery Bradley vs. Raymond Felton. After getting dominated in the playoffs, Bradley (and two healthy shoulders) gets a chance to redeem himself and -- if Rajon Rondo is sidelined at the start of the season while rehabbing from the ACL tear -- this could be around the time the All-Star point guard makes a return as Boston's schedule calms down from a hectic November.

Again, there are more obvious dates that you'll read about below (like opening night or Doc Rivers' Boston return in December), but those are just a few that should generate some additional buzz.

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Each weekday for a three-week span, our summer panel of prognosticators -- a motley crew featuring our friends in the Celtics blogging community -- will join forces to tell you how the 2013-14 season will play out for Boston. We'll gaze into our crystal balls and attempt to answer all your questions before this season's team even hits the floor together for the first time.

Today's Celtics Summer Forecast topic: What are your expectations for Avery Bradley?

Bradley is coming off a 2012-13 season that featured all sorts of peaks and valleys. He missed the first 30 games while rehabbing from double shoulder surgery, provided a defensive jolt that inspired some of Boston's best basketball upon his return, struggled when backcourt mate Rajon Rondo was lost for the season forcing him into increased ball-handling duties, and lost confidence in his offensive game while his body broke down again late in the season (then his defense slipped as he was routinely torched by New York's Raymond Felton in the playoffs).

Bradley landed on the All-Defensive second team and with good reason. According to individual defensive statistics logged by Synergy Sports, Bradley limited opponents to 0.697 points per play, the lowest mark in the league among those with at least 475 total defensive possessions. Opponents shot just 30.8 percent against Bradley and scored just 31.8 percent of the time, also a league low based on at least 475 possessions.

But Bradley struggled just as mightily offensively. Of all players with at least his 574 total offensive possessions, Bradley ranked 183rd out of 187 in points per possession, according to Synergy data.

On Tuesday, a beefed-up Bradley detailed how he hopes his first uninterrupted offseason of his pro career will bring more consistency to his game next season. Our panel seems to agree that a healthy Bradley should (1) See his offensive numbers recover a bit and (2) Have a chance to be an All-Defensive first-teamer.

But a healthy Bradley will also find increased expectations this season, particularly as he approaches his next contract. Bradley must prove that he can be consistent enough offensively for the Celtics to commit to him as their long-term starting shooting guard, while he must prove that his playoff struggles were an aberration.

The guess here? With the departure of Kevin Garnett, it's on Bradley to sort of set the defensive intensity for these new-look Celtics and he must continue to be an on-ball pest. Offensively, he needs to show consistency, and we'll find out if full health is enough to bring that on. If Boston struggles as a team, it could diminish his chances for All-Defensive first team, but he should be in the mix at the guard position, particularly if Rondo gets back on the court and allows Bradley to settle in at the off-ball spot.

With the team in need of increased scoring, Bradley needs to be a double-digit scorer, even if the majority of points comes off cuts and open 3-point looks (though the increased bulk could help him with finishing around the basket). The bottom line for Bradley is consistency and that's the greatest expectation for him this season.

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BARRINGTON, N.H. -- Beefed up Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley said he's taking full advantage of his first true NBA offseason and, despite a summer of changes for his team, the fourth-year guard gushed with anticipation about the upcoming season.

Bradley, who has spent much of the summer out of the public eye while immersing himself in basketball workouts, emerged Tuesday for the first of three court renovations as part of a contest sponsored by RE/Max of New England. Bradley and Celtics legend/broadcaster Cedric Maxwell unveiled the first of three driveway makeovers Tuesday with the Barker-Jobin family.

Looking fit and noting he's bulked up to 196 pounds, Bradley admitted his body broke down at the end of the 2012-13 season, one in which he missed the first two months while rehabbing from double shoulder surgery, and he's utilized his first uninterrupted offseason as a pro to prepare his body for the 82-game grind.

"Every summer for me has been just watching film, just going to watch people play," said Bradley, whose rookie season was stunted by a chipped bone in his ankle from a predraft workout. He lost his sophomore offseason to the lockout and last year he was recovering from surgery on both shoulders that had ended his 2011-12 season early.

"This whole summer, I’ve bee playing every single day. I think I took like maybe three weeks off. My girlfriend kept telling me, 'You need to rest, you need a break.' But I was so excited to get back on the court and I’ve been here in Boston for maybe like two months, working out every day. Two a days. Me, Jared [Sullinger] and a few of the younger guys."

It's funny to hear the 22-year-old Bradley refer to "younger" players, but he'll be an elder statesman on next year's overhauled roster (only Rajon Rondo will be longer tenured in Boston). Bradley knows he'll have a bigger role and is ready to shoulder it.

"I feel a lot stronger, sometimes even when I’m walking down the street in Boston, people will say, 'You look a lot bigger now.' And I laugh," Bradley said. "I’ve been eating a lot different, I’ve been lifting every single day, I weigh the most I ever weighed -- like 196, that's a lot for me and I’m hoping I can stay like 188 throughout the season.

"I feel a lot better. Toward the end of the season, my body was kind of breaking down on me. I was getting a little sick and stuff, so I wasn’t eating. But I feel a lot better now."

Bradley endured a lackluster postseason, getting bullied at times by New York's Raymond Felton, who proved to be the X-factor for the Knicks that Boston had hoped Bradley would be for the Celtics. It's clear the added bulk is designed at improving his ability to muscle up with his All-NBA defense, but also could aid him on the offensive end.

"I feel like it makes me stronger. I feel stronger," Bradley said. "When I’m working out with my teammates, they feel me. It’s a difference, and I can tell because the coaches tell me that I look a lot bigger than I was last year."

Bradley said he doesn't ask Rondo about his health when they correspond during the offseason, but acknowledged the team might not have its All-Star point guard at the start of the season. Bradley is willing to help with ball-handling duties if asked.

"I’m not sure what position I’m going to play, whatever I can do to help our team out, that’s what I’m going to be open to doing," Bradley said. "Rondo will still be there to play that leadership role and help everybody out. Even if I’m not playing point guard, I’m pretty sure whoever is, Rondo is going to be there in his ear, trying to help us become the best team we can be."

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Each weekday for a three-week span, our summer panel of prognosticators -- a motley crew featuring our friends in the Celtics blogging community -- will join forces to tell you how the 2013-14 season will play out for Boston. We'll gaze into our crystal balls and attempt to answer all your questions before this season's team even hits the floor together for the first time.

Today's Celtics Summer Forecast topic: What are your expectations for Jeff Green?

Through the first 5 ½ seasons in the NBA, Jeff Green's per-36 minute stat lines were so staggeringly static, it left many observers wondering if there simply wasn't another level to his game. Then Green found that elusive gear late in the 2013-14 campaign and Celtics fans have spent much of the offseason pondering if he can maintain that sort of production, or whether it was a fleeting glance.

Just how good was Green late last season? Over the final 22 games -- 16 regular-season tilts starting with a monster offensive outburst against Miami and six postseason games against the Knicks -- he averaged a robust 1.039 points per play, according to Synergy Sports data. That's a number that would rank him among the 25 most efficient scorers in the league.

Green showed the potential to be Boston's go-to scoring option with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on the floor. Now, without that security blanket and the possibility that rehabbing point guard Rajon Rondo won't be ready for the start of the year, Green must prove now he can carry the offensive load without those other weapons around him to relieve some of the pressure.

For his part, Green welcomes the heightened expectations and believes there's yet another level to his game.

"I look at the end of last year as being the point in the season where I think things kind of turned the corner for me," Green said earlier this summer. "I feel like this year is going to be another level that I can take my game to after heart surgery. I’m just taking it one day at a time, just trying to get better. It’s been a long road, as you guys know. I’m looking forward to what’s to come this year and what I can do on the court."

Added Green: "[Last season] kind of set the bar for me and what I can do and what I have do in the future," Green said earlier this summer. "I think I’ve been heavily prepared by Doc [Rivers], right before he left, mentally [prepared] by KG before he left. I think I’m ready for that next step."

Our panel seems split. Many responders believe Green can take another step as the offensive focal point, while others need to see him sustain that production before they buy in. It's fair to assume that Green will be one of the most scrutinized players on the Celtics' roster next season, and his ability to carry the offense will constantly be under the microscope (particularly if Rondo isn't ready at the start of the season).

The projection here? Green will likely have to substitute quality for quantity this season. Without a bunch of All-Stars on the court with him, Green won't have so many open lanes to navigate or clean looks for jumpers. But the Celtics will lean hard on him to produce points and Green will get every opportunity to prove himself as the star scorer.

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SALEM, N.H. -- Only about 50 days had passed since Kelly Olynyk was last in Boston, but, boy, had expectations grown.

Dubbed a complementary role player by Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on draft night, all it took was a stellar five-game performance at his pro debut at the Orlando Pro Summer League for some Boston fans to ready Olynyk for the Hall of Fame.

On a pristine late-August morning, the 22-year-old Olynyk stood in the lot of a New Hampshire Park and Ride off Interstate 93 as a police escort assembled to deliver him -- and 30 children from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children -- to a nearby amusement park for a Shamrock Foundation event. Just days after league MVP LeBron James received an unauthorized police escort to a Justin Timberlake and Jay Z concert in Miami, there were wisecracks about all this attention going to the rookie's head.
Olynyk just smiled when asked about the escort. Truth be told, it wasn't even the first one of his basketball career. An officer noted that traffic on I-93 would soon be back to the New Hampshire border; the escort was the only way this crew was getting to the park anytime soon.

The 7-foot Olynyk, with his long hair and a green Celtics shirt, towered over the motorcycles around him and could be seen by cars crawling to the park's access road. Alas, the line of traffic was there for the roller coasters, log flumes and end-of-summer fun, not for Boston's top draft pick.

Asked about the wide-ranging spectrum of expectations -- from Ainge seemingly underselling Olynyk despite moving up three spots to snag him at No. 13 in June's draft, to those who want him in the starting lineup on opening night -- Olynyk smiled again and shook his head.

"I just want to help the team any way I can," he said. "Whether it's as an asset on offense or defense, whatever I can do. Just try to bring energy and excitement, and a work ethic every day to help this team get better. That's all you really can do. The pieces will fall where they will, but if you bring the attitude and effort, then good things will happen."

Hop HERE to read the full story.

NBA.com conducted its annual rookie survey and Boston's Kelly Olynyk got some high praise from his first-year brethren.

Olynyk finished third in the voting for Rookie of the Year at 18.2 percent (behind only CJ McCollum and Victor Oladipo at 24.2 percent). Olynyk also tied for first in the voting for which rookie would have the best NBA career (tied with Oladipo at 18.2 percent) and which rookie is being most overlooked (tied with Ricky Ledo, Erik Murphy, and Nerlens Noel at 8.6 percent).

Hop HERE to read the full rookie survey.

Each weekday for a three-week span, our summer panel of prognosticators -- a motley crew featuring our friends in the Celtics blogging community -- will join forces to tell you how the 2013-14 season will play out for Boston. We'll gaze into our crystal balls and attempt to answer all your questions before this season's team even hits the floor together for the first time.

Today's Celtics Summer Forecast topic: Who will emerge as team MVP?

Take Rajon Rondo's health out of the equation and this question seems like a bit of a slam dunk. Rondo is the most talented player on this Celtics team and, even in a transition year, it's fair to say that much of Boston's success (whether that's 30 wins or a push for the playoffs) will be dictated by (1) when Rondo is able to play and (2) how well he plays coming back from ACL rehab.

In our panel vote, Rondo received a whopping 65 percent of the MVP vote, while Jeff Green (20 percent) and Jared Sullinger (10 percent) rounded out the top three. Avery Bradley also landed in the voting.

But our panel stressed that if Rondo isn't able to get back on the court early in the season, it would hinder his MVP chances. Clearly, his health is far more important to the team, particularly in the long term. But an extended Rondo absence does make the team MVP race a bit more intriguing. Will Green maintain his success from the end of last season? Can a healthy Sullinger show again that he should have been a lottery pick? With a chance to drive up the value of his next contract, can Avery Bradley (and two healthy shoulders) emerge as a two-way force spearheaded by his game-changing on-ball defense? Might one of the Brooklyn imports like Kris Humphries or Gerald Wallace find themselves rejuvenated in Boston and lead a young team?

The guess here? Rondo is the MVP if he's on the court for at least half the season. Boston's early schedule is brutal and -- even if Rondo is around for it -- the Celtics are likely to endure some serious lumps before Christmas. Rondo might aid his MVP chances just being a spectator as Boston's lack of battle-tested ball-handlers will have fans salivating for his return.

But my MVP vote comes down to this: This is a monster year for Rondo. Gone is the safety net of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Rondo must show he can lead this team, utilizing his playmaking abilities to make those around him better, while also increasing his own scoring output and improving his defensive consistency. Pundits are writing off his team and many will diminish their expectations for Rondo himself because of his injury. These are exactly the type of situations that Rondo has thrived upon in the past. With low standards, Rondo has the ability to exceed all expectations for himself and the team by being the team MVP on the court (and off).

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