“He said he’s progressed, but I didn’t expect him to be doing anything like [running] for a while,” Stevens said. “He’s just got to get himself back to feeling 110 percent before he starts doing anything. Obviously, he’s got some time to recover.”

Stevens said he did not think Crowder had started running again, but added there was no reason to rush.

CHICAGO — Celtics coach Brad Stevens told the Globe that forward Jae Crowder is “feeling great” as he recovers from a sprained knee he suffered in Boston’s Game 4 playoff loss to the Cavaliers April 26.

Crowder was injured when he fell backward after being hit in the face by Cleveland guard J.R. Smith, who received a two-game suspension for the incident.


Two weeks ago, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that the team intended to extend a qualifying offer to Crowder, making him a restricted free agent.

Talking points

Here at the NBA Scouting Combine, college prospects are measured, tested, and interviewed. They play full-court scrimmages and jump as high as they can and hope that any moment could be enough to pique the interest of a team in attendance.

But in the bleachers, the hotel lobbies, and other quiet corners, there is another story that unfolds. This event is attended by just about every NBA power broker, from coaches to general managers to scouting directors. And this is one of the few occasions when they are all assembled under one roof.

So in addition to scouting the players, the week here can serve as a helpful chance to gather at least preliminary intelligence about potential trade partners. It is also a chance for front-office members to build relationships with one another, potentially breeding familiarity for future correspondence.

“It’s definitely helpful,” Celtics assistant general manager Mike Zarren said, “just for the purpose of getting a feel for what [other teams] want to do.”


The Celtics have made it very clear that they plan to aggressively pursue trades and free agents this summer, a notion that Zarren reemphasized in an interview with the Globe. Boston holds the 16th, 28th, 33d, and 46th picks in next month’s draft.

The difficulty in having extensive draft-related trade talks at the Combine, though, is that the teams that will have the most valuable chips to offer simply don’t know where they will be picking. The draft lottery will not be held until next week.

Still, the side discussions among team executives can have value.

“You start to get a sense of what some of the teams will start to do over the summer,” Zarren said. “That’s usually more the point of it, rather than discussing a specific trade at this time. You might lay the groundwork for some draft-based stuff, too, but it’s still very early.”

Wildcat was wowed

Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein, an athletic, shot-blocking rim protector that many Celtics fans are clamoring for, said he was impressed by Boston’s late-season surge.

“They did some really good things there toward the end of the season to get where they’re at,” Cauley-Stein said. “It goes to show the guys that they have — they’re young, and that’s what’s so intriguing about them. To do all that with young guys is amazing.”

Cauley-Stein was one of 18 players the Celtics interviewed here this week. Cauley-Stein will be long gone by the time the Celtics make the 16th overall pick, so they would need to orchestrate a trade to acquire him.


Connaughton gains buzz

Arlington, Mass., native and Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton was the buzz of the Combine when he led all players by recording a 44-inch vertical jump, the second highest in the history of this event.

He also placed first in the standing vertical jump at 37½ inches and tied for first in both the lane agility drill (10.74 seconds) and ¾-court sprint (4.2 seconds).

“Ever since I was a kid, any chance I get where I can be able to compete, I want to be able to do it,” Connaughton said.

Connaughton interviewed with the Celtics on Friday morning.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.