When you consider how consistently productive he's been, it is hard to understand why Brandon Bass spent much of his career as a seldom used reserve. It turns out, all he needed was the right situation.

Brandon Bass finally finds a home with the Celtics - The Boston Globe

Those difficult years in Orlando helped put a chip on Bass’s shoulder that he brought to Boston. He viewed the Celtics not as a former rival but as a team on which he could flourish with veteran teammates. He could play with a more mature center than Dwight Howard in Kevin Garnett, and Doc Rivers would scream at him for not shooting when he was open, the opposite of Van Gundy in Orlando.

"I’m grateful for it, man, because I’m getting an opportunity here to grow as a player in this league,’’ he said after tying his season high with 22 points in the Celtics’ 94-82 win over the Bobcats Sunday in Charlotte, N.C. "And it’s something I always wanted since my first year, just be able to develop and grow. Here I’m able to grow at a faster rate and I hope I continue because I feel like I got a bunch of different things that I haven’t shown that I could to help the team in certain areas.’’

Credit Danny Ainge for finding a guy undervalued and itching for the opportunity to thrive elsewhere (in exchange for a guy that peaked in value). By the way, this is also a reason I'm hoping that Jeff Green can turn out to be a better player than he was in OKC or in his first half year with the Celtics. Some guys just need the right situation to fit into.