I made it back from Las Vegas after spending 10 days there for the NBA Summer League. If you’ve never been to Las Vegas, that’s just too long to spend in fan-yourself-hot, neon-tinted, cigarette-filled Las Vegas. But the good news is it gives you plenty of time to chew on basketball things. So here are some thoughts and observations about the future Celtics, former Celtics, and other random stuff:

■ I ran into former Celtics guard R.J. Hunter in the parking lot following one of his games with the Rockets’ summer league team. Hunter was quite intrigued by the Celtics and Danny Ainge’s penchant for dealing, and he was quite impressed but hardly surprised by the rise of his fellow 2015 first-round pick, Terry Rozier. I asked Hunter, who has played a total of eight NBA games over the last two seasons with the Bulls and Rockets, if he is considering going overseas next season. But he said he truly believes there is a place for him in the NBA, and he is determined to keep going for it, at least for now.

■ Jabari Bird was the Celtics’ true standout. In four games the guard averaged 16.8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting a sparkling 57 percent from the field. And he consistently showed high-level NBA athleticism along the way, particularly with his ability to seemingly defy gravity while hanging in the air to complete a tough layup. Bird, who was on a two-way contract last season, is a restricted free agent, but he is still waiting to receive an offer from another club, and roster spots are disappearing quickly. The Celtics might ultimately give him their 15th roster spot, but they probably would prefer to have him back for one more season on a two-way deal.

■ I’m not going to identify the players, coach, or team, but this was perhaps the coolest example of camaraderie I saw during the Las Vegas summer league: I was walking through the casino of The Cosmopolitan after having an excellent cheeseburger at one of the many restaurants there when I spotted one current NBA head coach at the blackjack table with four of his current players. Not sure if they won or not.

■ Guerschon Yabusele, for the most part, had a solid week. He averaged 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from the field, and also displayed his nifty passing abilities a few times. Those numbers are fine. But really, a first-round pick appearing in his third summer league should be a bit more dominant. Yes, fans got excited when they saw Yabusele rumble through the lane for a powerful dunk, but then a play like that would be followed by a defensive lapse or a missed 3-pointer. Yabusele’s contract is guaranteed this year, but after that the Celtics will have a team option.

■ Given Brad Stevens’s success, it’s actually quite surprising his coaching tree has yet to truly sprout. But Ronald Nored, who played for Stevens at Butler University, certainly seems like the biggest rising star. Nored, who was a Celtics player development coach in 2014-15, is now an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets. Nored spent the last two seasons coaching the G-League’s Long Island Nets and was on Charlotte’s bench in Las Vegas.

■ One thought I have every time I go to Vegas: We’ve come a long way with smoking laws — can you believe there used to be ashtrays on airplanes!? — but it really is inexcusable for smoking to be allowed indoors in any public place.

■ It was pretty surprising to see Marcus Smart appear courtside with his agent, Happy Walters, following the Celtics’ game against the Hornets on Monday. Smart, of course, is a restricted free agent, and his frustration with the Celtics during this summer has been quite clear. Smart wants an offer approaching $13-14 million-per-season, and the Celtics, who will have the right to match any offer sheet Smart signs with another team, are not ready to pay that, and they are certainly not going to bid against themselves.

Anyway, Smart and the Celtics did not meet last week. A source close to Smart said the guard wanted to see his close friend Trey Davis play for Boston’s summer league team. But Smart caught just the end of the Celtics’ game that day before settling in for the first half of the Nugget-Bucks game.

And that led to the most uncomfortable moment I witnessed last week. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge spotted Smart courtside, and as he walked by Smart, Ainge jostled the baseball cap on his head, causing Smart to initially turn just as someone might turn when someone jostles their hat. When Smart saw that it was Ainge, Ainge smiled and kept walking as he left the gym, and Smart offered a brief smile before turning around.

■ Semi Ojeleye already has shown that he can be a powerful defender at the NBA level, and he showed that again during summer league. He did not take major steps elsewhere, though. The forward made 10 of 30 3-pointers and pulled down just 4.2 rebounds per game. Of course, the offseason is not even two months old yet, and Ojeleye is clearly dedicating much of his summer to improving that jump shot.

■ The NBA has done an excellent job turning the Las Vegas summer league into a must-attend event. This year, for the first time, all 30 teams took part. But it’s not perfect. Here’s what I’d suggest:

Start by reducing the number of games played. Did you notice how teams generally rest their best players for multiple games? It’s partly because they don’t want those players to be injured, partly because they don’t see a need to burn them out, and partly because when the playoffs begin, they just want to lose and go home. As it stands, every team plays at least five games, with teams in the title game playing as many as eight. That’s a lot. Also, I’d take away one timeout from each team. And add dunk and 3-point contests.

■ The NBA also uses summer league to experiment with some minor rules changes. Here’s one that I loved: When a team gathered an offensive rebound, the shot clock reset to 14 seconds rather than 24. Keep the game moving. Hopefully the league will ultimately adopt this switch.

■ Speaking of changes, every year I expect the free parking for fans at the arena to be gone, but so far it’s still around. So thumbs up for that.

■ Much of the Celtics buzz was centered on the talented if puzzling first-round pick, Robert Williams. Unfortunately, the rookie played fewer than seven minutes in his opening game before missing the rest of the event with a knee contusion. But he told me that there was still great value in the experience, particularly from watching the team’s defensive system in action from the bench and gaining a better understanding of the concepts. And, he was on time for everything, so that’s good.