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.

Again, with Turner it’s a complicated situation. He’s just good enough to demand a good return in trade, but not good enough to want to keep over the other guys, even if he’s better than they are right now.

See how this is kind of a trap?

The versatile Turner has worked hard to build a place in this league, and has done enough to show he’s an NBA rotation player. Yet Boston finds itself trapped between the former No. 2 pick and a hard place, with no clear solution for the problem of Turner being not-bad.

CBSSports – Evan Turner’s not bad, and that’s a problem for the Celtics

Countless words are spilled over who will emerge in the Celtics’ crowded front-court, who from the rookie class is going to contribute right away, how big of a leap will Marcus Smart make in year two, will the additions of Amir Johnson and David Lee further cement the Cs as a playoff team in the East?

And then there’s Evan Turner. KWAPT touched upon him in a dump last week and how his presence makes things murky for the Cs. Turner was a pleasant surprise and a catalyst for last year’s squad. Seen as a draft bust after the Sixers selected him 2nd in the 2010 draft, Turner did stall the offense with his ball-pounding from time-to-time and often made you cringe with his shot-selection and his ugly three-point shooting, but he just as often made eye-popping passes that propelled the offense, rebounded well for his position and finished in traffic or in the mid-range on contested jumpers.

His Pierce-like “get out of my way and let me win this game” buzzer-beater against the Hawks before the All-Star break and his game-winning, possibly season-saving corner trey in Portland demonstrated his ability to rise up in crunch time and even though he was inconsistent and underwhelming in the post-season, he admirably carried out his defensive assignments against the best player in basketball.

Evan Turner showed he could be a rotation player on a good team, and by all accounts, the Celtics look like they could be a good -not great- team again this season.

The thing is, the Celtics don’t want to be a good team. They want to become a great team. There are all sorts of ways to do that: player development, a marquee free agent signing (still hasn’t happened), a trade that brings in a star and ships out promising, young talent.

None of those paths to greatness involve giving Evan Turner meaningful minutes. When it comes to player development, the Celtics need to play Marcus Smart at the point. They can sprinkle in Terry Rozier as the season progresses if they want to develop him on the ball as well. Playing Turner at the one, where he shined last season, is only going to stunt player development. It might not make the Celtics better in the present, but with projected development from Smart, and a pretty decent rookie season behind him, it’s not like the Cs will be sacrificing multiple wins by starting Smart over Turner. You could play Turner at the two or the three, but then you’re quelling the growth of two guys recently re-signed over the off-season: Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko. Danny Ainge didn’t sign either guy so that Evan Turner could take their minutes. Playing Turner at the two, perhaps as a back-up for Avery Bradley, also takes minutes away from two other young players: RJ Hunter and James Young. Plus, Turner has the prescience to know that playing him off the ball is a bad idea:

He even said last preseason, via MassLive, that any coach who sticks him in the corner to shoot three-pointers is no genius. That’s because he’s only an average to below average spot up shooter, hitting just 28.1 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes last season.

If playing Turner hurts the development of younger players, it in turn hurts the Cs chance to offer an appetizing package to a team with a disgruntled star. Just as the Cs were criticized in some circles for not featuring guys like Kelly Olynyk enough in the post-season, they’ll be criticized and negatively affected by playing a known commodity, Turner, over intriguing, unknown commodities like Young, Hunter and Rozier if a star player becomes available.

Even if the Celtics did decide to significantly decrease Turner’s minutes in favor of playing the younger guys, ET’s presence on the roster will make it tempting to play him more and more if and when the young guys struggle. If he’s off the roster, there’s no temptation.

Count me among those who feel bad agreeing with Moore’s assessment: Evan Turner was a really nice surprise last year. But he needs to go.

On page 2, George Karl’s dealt with all sorts of PGs, so clearly he can deal with Rondo

Asked how he sold Rondo on Sacramento after Rondo’s bad experience last season with Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, Karl said: “I just sold him on how I like to let my guys have freedom. I talked to him once before he signed and it’s going to be fun coaching him. I think he wants to lead our team but he also wants to be part of the decision-making, and that can be somewhat combustible but it can also work at a high level because I think we’re all trying to make the team the best.”

Karl pointed out his history of dealing with mercurial point guards during his 30-plus-year coaching career. The list is impressive.

“I had Gary Payton [in Seattle], Sam Cassell [in Milwaukee], Allen Iverson [in Denver], Chauncey Billups [in Denver]. Chauncey is challenging,” Karl said. “Andre Miller is probably not as challenging but he’ll be stubborn and wanting me to do it his way. I think all really good point guards have a trust and belief in themselves that sometimes causes conflict with the coaches.”

Boston Globe – Kings need George Karl, Rajon Rondo, DeMarcus Cousins on same page

Personally if I were George Karl, I would have sold him on the fact that he destroyed his reputation in Dallas last season, plays a position saturated with talent that matches or exceeds his, minus the ego and that our team chemistry is already shot to shit, so come on board, Rajon!

I forgot that Karl coached so many mercurial floor generals over the years, it’s possible that his experience with those guys will help him manage Rondo this season.

Karl’s messaging above, though, is contradictory and could already spell doom in working with Rondo. He says he allows freedom and encourages decision-making, but that it “can be somewhat combustible.” Considering Karl’s rumored rocky relationship with Boogie Cousins, adding in another “combustible” situation could make for quite a lot of fun schadenfreude for NBA fans outside of Sac-town.