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After Trade, C's Piecing Together New Puzzle

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MIAMI – Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder and Jameer Nelson all boarded Saturday morning’s team flight to Miami wearing freshly-minted matching gray Celtics sweatsuits. And as soon as they landed in Miami, it was time to get to work.

The Celtics immediately went over film on Saturday afternoon and ran through some plays when they got to Florida, and they were back in the gym again on Sunday morning for shootaround, looking to integrate three new players into the rotation after Thursday’s trade with Dallas. It will be a work in progress when Celtics face the Miami Heat tonight at 6 p.m.

For the new guys, the transition process of the trade seems to be pretty straightforward over the first 36 hours or so. Crowder said his transition to the team has been “unbelievable” so far, from the reception he’s gotten from the people of Boston to the help of the Celtics’ coaching and training staffs.

“I think it will be pretty easy for us, because we’re coming from Dallas where they had a lot of different schemes,” Crowder said of learning Boston’s defense. “Here it’s the same thing every night. (We) have consistency with it, instead of scrambling around to find different schemes for different teams.”

Wright echoed Crowder’s point about the Celtics ���sticking to their principles” defensively, but still allowed that the transition will take time in terms of just understanding how his teammates play in Boston’s offense.

“It takes about two-three weeks to understand everything. (We need to learn) who likes to go backdoor, who’s coming off of dribble handoffs, their tendencies and stuff like that since we haven’t played with these guys,” Wright said.

Wright also noted that it may take Nelson a little longer to pick up everything since he’s a point guard, and his job will be to run the offense when he’s on the floor. Nelson said he’s ready for the challenge.

“Basically, you’ve got to come here with a clear mind and become brainwashed quickly,” Nelson said, later adding that Steven’s system is “basically the same” as the one Stan Van Gundy ran when he was with the Orlando Magic. Nelson spent the first 651 games and 10 years of his career with the Magic before signing with the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason. Having never been traded before in his career, he’s still working on the logistics of a mid-season move, but he already seems pretty comfortable with his new team.

“I told my family, we’re fortunate. A lot of guys in 10 years have moved around six, seven or eight times,” Nelson said. “It’s a great group of guys here and the organization is one of the best. I’ve come here and been welcomed pretty warmly.”

On the Celtics roster, only Gerald Wallace has more NBA experience, and Nelson would seem like an ideal candidate to take a leadership role once he gets settled.

“I’m a leader no matter what, no matter what team I’m on, who’s on the floor, or who’s in the locker room. I take the challenge. I’m not a guy who runs away from adversity,” Nelson said.

Nelson said he’s yet to speak with Stevens about roles for himself or his teammates yet, but said he’s ready to contribute whatever is asked of him.

“My job is to go out there and play the minutes that he gives me when he puts me out there, whatever situation it is, and play them hard,” Nelson said.

Coach Brad Stevens said Sunday he’s not yet ready to name a new captain in the wake of Rajon Rondo’s departure, and he is still deciding how he’ll dole out minutes with three new players in the equation.

“Whatever we decide, not just the lineup, but rotation-wise, nothing’s going to be set in stone until we really figured this thing out,” Stevens said. “This is a little bit of a puzzle.”

It’s a puzzle that will take time to figure out, but the team is anxious to get started. As Stevens was winding down his chat with the media, veterans Jeff Green and Wallace were barking over the sound of bouncing balls and squeaking sneakers. Their distinct voices were half-joking with the media to “wrap it up” so shootaround could begin and the work could continue.

“Six o’clock game guys,” Wallace said. “Let’s go.”