Those who believe Kedrick Brown is a ripe plaintiff for an abandonment suit against the Celtics will likely have their day in court in the coming season. Make that on court.

When Danny Ainge talked on draft night about adding three young players - mentioning Brown with draftees Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins - he wasn't just blowing smoke. The new president of basketball operations is a Kedrick Brown guy, putting him in a group of celebrity endorsers that includes Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker.

Ainge signed on after recently sharing the floor at the Celts' facility with Brown. While he spoke in fairly measured tones about the third-year swingman who has picked up more splinters than meaningful minutes, the word from inside is that Ainge was bubbly about Brown's possibilities.

``I talked with Kedrick and we went out on the court and spent 15-20 minutes going through some stuff that I'd like to see him work on,'' Ainge said. ``He was leaving town, and hopefully he'll be back and I'll have a chance to work out a lot more with him.

``I like him. I think that Kedrick has some definite skills and talents. I think he's great defensively. I think he has the ability to be a real force as a post-up player and the two positions - especially since we have great shooters in Pierce and Walker. With Antoine being able to stretch the defense, you have the ability to go down and take advantage of positing up smaller positions like 2-guard and small forward.''