The Boston Celtics have exercised its third-year option on forward Kelly Olynyk, and its fourth-year options on forward Jared Sullinger and center/forward Tyler Zeller. 

Olynyk appeared in seven games for the Celtics this preseason and averaged 8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in 25.2 minutes per game. He is averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per game through 70 career contests.  

Sullinger appeared in eight preseason matchups for the team and averaged 14.9 points, including shooting 15-30 (.500) from beyond the arc, 10.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 21.9 minutes per game over that span.  

Zeller appeared in eight preseason games for the Celtics and averaged 7.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game off the bench. He is averaging 6.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.7 blocks in 21.0 minutes per game on his career. 

The Boston Celtics have a fairly even roster as they look to rebuild out of their Big 3 era.

“If everybody were designing an NBA roster, I think they would probably suggest that you have three max [salary] players that are All-Star players like we’ve had in the past,” Danny Ainge said. “Like Miami had, like Cleveland has now. That would be ideal because it’s pretty clear-cut who’s going to play and then you build players around them. We don’t have that right now.

“Not being able to have the 10 or 15 franchise players that exist in a 30-team league and with one team having maybe three of them and another having two, there’s not that many of them to go around. That probably is a good thing that some nights your bench will be better than your starters.”

The Celtics have amassed a considerable number of first round picks over the past two years.

“We don’t really look at it as rebuilding or changing direction, we’re trying to build a championship,” said Ainge matter-of-factly. “We have some really nice players and I know Brad is really understanding the NBA game and all the things that come from making the transition to coaching in college. I couldn’t be happier with Brad and his staff. I think he’s done a great job of communicating to all the players.”

The Celtics were interested in Kevin Love this offseason and hope to eventually attract a franchise-caliber player.

“Players will want to come to Boston, but not all players will and we understand that,” Ainge said. “Right now my focus is on Opening Night. I’m excited how this team comes together on the court. We don’t even know who’s going to be free agents. We don’t know who’s going to sign contract extensions. We don’t know who is going to decide who is going to stay with their own teams. We’ll be ready for that when the time comes.”

Rajon Rondo will practice on Monday and will check for the doctors' final clearance on whether he can return for the Boston Celtics' season opener on Wednesday.

Rondo said he has a "79 percent" chance to play Wednesday. The guard will receive one more X-ray. If cleared, he will play.

"I'm still optimistic," Rondo said. "I don't know. I don't think (it's) realistic but a lot of rest and more treatment you never know."

The Boston Celtics have claimed free agent forward Jarell Eddie off NBA waivers, a league source told RealGM.

Eddie was recently released by the Atlanta Hawks, and he drew multiple waiver bids before the Celtics were awarded his rights. Eddie, who has a non-guaranteed contract, could be being signed to be released as part of Boston’s allocated players to Maine in the NBA D-League.

Eddie scored eight points and grabbed two rebounds in 39 minutes over four preseason games for the Hawks.

Eddie, a standout at Virginia Tech, went undrafted in the June NBA Draft. He played in the summer league for the Washington Wizards. 

The Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics each have just one player ranked in ESPN's top-100 list of NBA players.

Michael Carter-Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo represent their respective teams in the top-100.

The 76ers are the only team with only two players ranked in the top 250, while the Knicks, Lakers and Celtics each have at least three other players in the top 150.

The Boston Celtics will likely waive Will Bynum.

Danny Ainge was set to meet wth Bynum on Saturday.

The Celtics acquired Bynum on Friday from the Detroit Pistons for Joel Anthony.

Bynum averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 assists per game last season.

In this two-part episode, host Daniel Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Arturo Galletti of BoxScoreGeeks.com (@ArturoGalletti) go through the over-unders for all 30 NBA teams for the 14-15 season. 

Timestamps for the discussion on each team:

Part One

Click here to listen or download Part 1 

Part Two

Click here to listen or download Part 2. 

You can also click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons have traded Joel Anthony for Will Bynum.

The Celtics appear to be making the move with roster flexibility in mind. The Celtics have 16 fully guaranteed contracts on their books and must trim that down to 15 before the start of the regular season.

If the Celtics ultimately elect to waive Bynum, the $900,000 savings from the trade would give them additional flexibility with the goal of staying under the tax line this season.

The NBA will experiment with a 44-minute game when the Brooklyn Nets host the Boston Celtics on Oct. 19 in the preseason.

The league wants to examine the flow of a shorter game as compared to the standard 48-minute game.

"At our recent coaches' meeting, we had a discussion about the length of our games, and it was suggested that we consider experimenting with a shorter format," said NBA President, Basketball Operations Rod Thorn. "After consulting with our Competition Committee, we agreed to allow the Nets and Celtics to play a 44-minute preseason game in order to give us some preliminary data that will help us to further analyze game-time lengths."

Application of the experimental 44-minute game will involve quarters being reduced from their typical 12 minutes each to 11 and a reduction in mandatory timeouts in the second and fourth quarters. 

"When this idea came up at the coaches' meeting, I thought it was a unique experiment that was worth participating in," said Lionel Hollins. "I'm looking forward to gauging its impact on the flow of the game. Since there is a shorter clock, it affects playing time, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays into substitution patterns."

Including the partially guaranteed deal of Dwight Powell, the Boston Celtics currently have 16 guaranteed contracts. The Celtics will have to release a player and eat a contract since teams can only carry 15 players.

Vitor Faverani may be the player who is waived as he has yet to practice during training camp due to soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.

Faverani is owed $2.09 million this season, but he has yet to recover seven months later from a car accident that led to his arrest.

Powell, meanwhile, has impressed his teammates with his versatility and work ethic, and it may be difficult for the Celtics to pass on a player with such potential.