Boston's business is done, but there's plenty of basketball to keep us occupied coming up

The Celtics are like that overachiever in college who got all the coursework done halfway through the semester. While everyone else is stressing over all the work they still have to do, they're sleeping in and then playing video games all day. 

Okay maybe not playing video games, though I would love to see a stream of Brad Stevens, Austin Ainge, Mike Zarren, and Allison Feaster screaming into headphones at each other while playing Fortnite. But they could if they wanted to because their work is mostly done for the summer. 

The Celtics signed Baylor Scheierman to his rookie-scale contract, bringing their roster to 14. The 15th roster spot will stay open unless someone surprising is willing to take a minimum contract to join the team (the most hilarious scenario would be Paul Reed coming to Boston, making an immediate impact, and growing into Al Horford’s successor). Boston’s work this summer is pretty much done. 

So now what? 

We can try to fill the void with other player movement around the league. The Paul George stuff is getting a little juicy with his podcast revelation of how the negotiations went between him and the team. 

It sounds like the Clippers saw an expiration date on this group, especially with the second apron, and didn’t want to get tied into a situation where they gave up the flexibility to blow up the team. And that approach is fine, but it involves a human being on the other end and George didn’t want to play that game, so he bolted. 

There isn’t much other drama around the league. The second apron seems to have tempered a lot of the fireworks we’ve seen in the past. Three high-profile teams, the Celtics, Warriors and Clippers, were little better than bystanders on the open market. The Knicks big move was for a good player who has never been an All-Star and it cost them an important player in the process. 

The Sixers cashed in on the Clippers' folly, which makes them the winners of this summer, but even that move comes with questions. Those questions seem to be all we have left from a somewhat depressed free-agent season.

The summer Celtics are starting up soon. Here’s the schedule again so you can scratch your itch of watching guys wearing green and white playing basketball: 

• Sat, 7/13 vs Miami, 6:30 PM, NBA TV
• Mon 7/15  vs L.A. Lakers 10:30 PM, NBA TV
• Wed 7/17 vs Charlotte 5:30 PM, NBA TV
• Fri 7/19 vs. Dallas 4:30 PM, ESPNU

If the Celtics finish in the top four, they will advance to the playoffs, beginning with a semifinal doubleheader on Sunday, July 21 at 2 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET on ESPN.  The two winning teams from the semifinal games will meet in the championship game on Monday, July 22 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

If they are out of the top four, they will play a fifth game on either Saturday, July 20 or Sunday, July 21.

Here's the full summer league roster:

Drew Peterson just re-signed a two-way deal and Anton Watson is expected to sign one soon. JD Davison is a free agent at the moment and is more likely trying to find his way onto another team rather than come back to Boston. Neemias Queta, Jaden Springer, and Jordan Walsh will get some helpful reps as they try to add to their games. Queta will have a role early on as Kristaps Porzingis recovers from surgery, but Springer and Walsh will be trying to crack the rotation to help ease the burden on Boston's wings. 

I’ll say this again just like I do every season: don’t get too caught up in someone looking good at summer league. I call this the Mfiondu Kabengele rule because he looked good, he made an impression on everyone, he joined the team, and he went nowhere. Success in summer league is like success in the G League in that it is the bare minimum to even be considered for a roster. 

Looking good against a bunch of guys who will never make it in the league doesn’t mean a player will look good against a bunch of guys who have been very successful in the league. It just means they have a chance to prove themselves against better talent. 

We’ll be looking for fundamentals and signs of having a good feel for the game. We’ll be looking for good decisions, even if those plays don’t pan out. We can’t hold a lack of chemistry against players who make good plays that just don’t connect. 

Team USA also begins their exhibition schedule this week, so we’ll get to see Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday play ball again very soon. Here’s their warm up schedule: 

• Wed, 7/10 vs Canada, 10:30 pm, FS1
• Mon, 7/15 vs Australia, Noon, FS1
• Wed, 7/17 vs Serbia, Noon, FS1
• Sat, 7/20 vs South Sudan, 3 pm, Fox
• Mon, 7/22 vs Germany, 3 pm, Fox

And here’s the group stage schedule for the Olympics: 

• Sun, 7/28 vs Serbia, 11:15 am, NBC
• Wed, 7/31 vs South Sudan, 3 pm, NBC
• Sat, 8/3 vs Puerto Rico, 11:15 am, NBC

Tatum showed up today with a fresh haircut, ready to go. It’ll be fun to see what Steve Kerr does with Tatum and Holiday, and if he uses them a little more sparingly considering their deep run. 

More importantly, I want Tatum and Holiday picking Kerr’s and Steph Curry’s brains about the challenges of repeating and constantly making deep playoff runs. Talk to Kevin Durant about his time there and the challenges he faced. Talk to LeBron James. They have a lot of information that they can take to heart, and this is an amazing opportunity to sit next to them on a team bus or plane and fill their heads with important information that could help them next season. 

The gold medal might not be the most valuable reward from this trip to France. 

Boston’s business might be done, but we will have stuff we can focus on to help pass the summer. Before you know it, training camp will be opening back up and all the talk will be about chasing Banner 19.