The Boston Celtics will be without Rajon Rondo to begin the season for the second time in as many years following last week’s much-discussed left hand injury. Rondo suffered a left metacarpal fracture last Thursday night when he slipped in the shower.

There had been reports that Rondo injured himself at a local trampoline park, a visit he made with his children at least twice last week, but he was adamant that his story was legitimate during the team’s annual media day on Monday. 

Rondo expects to miss 8-10 weeks, which means the Celtics will be without their starting point guard for at least the first few weeks of the regular season. Danny Ainge said the club would be “cautious” with Rondo even though the injury is to his off-hand.

Regardless of whether Rondo is out for two weeks or more than a month, Brad Stevens will be forced to improvise. That means more ball-handling duties for two newcomers -- rookie Marcus Smart and free-agent addition Evan Turner. 

“Marcus being a rookie, it’s very important for him not to feel like he has to fill Rondo’s shoes. We’ll do that as a team and we’ll do that collectively,” Ainge said at the team’s practice facility in Waltham. “Evan will probably play some point guard, those are questions you can ask Brad. Phil [Pressey] can play some point guard.”

Boston has never had a ton of depth behind Rondo in terms of a true point guard, but this year the cupboard is more empty than usual. Avery Bradley spent a decent amount of time running the point with Rondo recovering from a torn ACL in each of the last two seasons, but wasn’t listed by Stevens as a potential option this time around. 

“We have multiple primary ball-handers on this team. I’ve always been a guy that thinks you can play two point guards together and you can play two combo guards together,” Stevens said. “We’ve just got to figure out who can best get the most out of everyone else and at the same time get the most out of the position as they can. 

“It’s an opportunity for Marcus. It’s an opportunity for Phil Pressey; it’s an opportunity for Evan Turner. It’s an opportunity for all those guys. The answer to that is only time will tell, I think that’s the best way to go about it.”

No mention was made of Bradley, who the coach raved about as a fill-in for Rondo prior to last season. Stevens told the Boston Herald in September 2013: I don’t think there is any doubt that Avery has elite ability in a lot of ways as a point guard. He’s an elite defender at the position. He’s an elite athlete at the point guard position. I think he’s a guy that’s gotten better. I think he’s a guy with more confidence, and I think he’s excited about the challenge if Rajon is out [in reference to Rondo’s ACL injury].

“As I’ve watched it, I didn’t think the struggles [at the point last season, which referred to 2012-13] were as bad as they were made out to be. The other thing is he did that midstream. He had to make that adjustment within a system already created. Maybe we do things that fit him a bit better early that you can tweak when Rajon comes back. You know, Bradley is still going to play. He’s still going to play a lot. He’s going to play off the ball and with the ball.”

It could very well be that Bradley hasn’t been considered because Rondo’s absence should be short. While not proven, Stevens has options worth looking at for the 8-to-16 games Rondo is expected to miss.

Pressey carries experience from last season, his first as a professional, when he played 15.1 minutes per game and started 11 times. His usage rate was low, 14.3%, but he showed an ability to distribute the ball effectively -- accounting for 44.3% of Boston’s assists when on the court.

It’s odd to think of him as the best option, but that may only be because he went undrafted 16 months ago.

Turner has the most NBA experience of the three -- having logged 306 games, mostly with the Philadelphia 76ers -- but could be third on the point guard depth chart when the season begins.

The No. 2 overall pick in 2010, Turner hasn’t played much point guard in the NBA, but the Indiana Pacers did experiment with him at the position sparingly during his brief tenure with the club. Ironically enough, the Celtics were one of the teams against which Frank Vogel played Turner at the point. I wrote about Indiana’s experiment here -- Pacers Show New Wrinkle With Turner At Point Guard -- in March.

Vogel made the decision to have Turner run the point -- which was forced by a brief injury to George Hill -- because the former National Player of the Year did so for a season at Ohio State. Stevens also referenced that when I asked him about his lack of professional experience running an offense.

“I think the [lack of] experience way, way, way outdistances any [lack of] success. I don’t think he’s played a lot of point, but maybe I’m wrong,” Stevens said. “I do know that he played point one year in college and was the National Player of the Year.”

The results weren’t bad in the limited time Turner spent at the point for the Pacers, but the situation was vastly different than the one in Boston. Hill, Indiana’s starting “point guard” is really one in name only, while Rondo carries much more responsibility. The cast of characters around Turner with Indiana was also more talented. Turner’s stat line was impressive in the aforementioned March game against the Celtics, which may have Stevens more optimistic than he should be about his skills as the primary ball-hander.

To his credit, Turner expressed a desire to do whatever Stevens asks him to do for the Celtics. “I’ve played the perimeter lately, and I’ve guarded the one-through-three,” he said. “I just want to do whatever is best to help the team.”

Regardless of how comfortable he is handing Turner the keys to the offense, Stevens seems most inclined to give Smart a chance to win the job outright. He made a point of emphasizing that he won’t restrict the sixth overall pick from starting simply because he’s a rookie.

“Marcus is going to get a ton of opportunity on and off the ball. I think he is physical, mentally and emotionally ready for those,” the coach said. “He doesn’t have any experience yet, but that will come quick.”