Christmas is coming and the team has 13 players under guaranteed contracts. There are additional camp invites and there will need to be at least a few cuts soon.

Camp notes: Paul Pierce may not be ready for opening day

Rivers said the Celtics would probably settle on a final 15 either before or immediately after Wednesday’s exhibition game. With 13 players on guaranteed contracts, they have two roster spots available. If they stay in-house, big man Greg Stiemsma and rookie guard Gilbert Brown would probably have the inside track. They could also start the season with one or both spots open and see who becomes available.

In another article, Flannery goes on to describe a few options for the team to explore further in the free agent market.

As noted below on this blog, Paul Pierce is out for the last preseason game and might not start on Christmas day but isn't expected to miss much more time than that - but we'll see.

Also, Doc Rivers has a man-crush on Keyon Dooling. Just thought you'd like to know.

Apparently Ray Allen ruffled a few feathers by saying he was surprised that David West signed with the Pacers. Update: In semi-related news, Reggie Evans decided to take the vet minimum from the Clippers rather than the Celtics or other teams. Sounds like the days of luring top talent for the chance to play with the Big 3 are over.

Finally, Glen Davis seems happy to be out from KG's shadow, or something like that.