I’ve written about Magnum Rolle before. At the time, I did not know the Maine Red Claws center was actually named after the TV character Magnum P.I.

No, he really was.

“My mom was a big fan,” Rolle explained to Steve Weinman of NBA D-League.com. Oh, that explains it then. I guess Rolle is just lucky his mom wasn’t a big fan of Austin Powers’s Ivana Humpalot.

Should the Celtics enter the market for another big man, which remains possible according to Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge, Rolle might not be the worst place to look. He was the first draft pick of the Maine Red Claws, who happen to be the Celtics’ D-League Affiliate. He displays a lot of upside and a lot of athleticism, and Red Claws GM Jon Jennings said Rolle should be called up to the NBA before long.

The 6’11″, 240-pound center, who started his career at LSU before graduating from Lousiana Tech, at least shows potential.

“Unfortunately,” Jennings told Weinman, “We probably won’t have him around for a long time because he is an obvious call-up candidate. He’s 6-11 with long arms and he runs the floor as well as any wing player. He’s got great hands for a big man, catches the ball on the run and has the ability to do so many different things.”

Which just goes to prove my theory — any time a D-League big man can catch the ball on the run, you have to sign him up. Just have to.

I cautioned in an earlier post about getting too caught up in Rolle’s upside. When big men start their careers in the D-League, that’s normally a scarlet letter. If you’re 6’11″ and worth a damn, chances are you’re on an NBA roster somewhere. Rolle was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in this past year’s draft, with the 51st pick, but couldn’t make the Pacers’s roster. For a frame of reference, Josh McRoberts starts for the Pacers and Solomon Jones was also one of the players who made Indiana’s roster ahead of Rolle (though Jones’s guaranteed contract probably figured into the decision).

One more problem with adding Rolle to the Celtics? Rivers doesn’t exactly drool over young, unproven players.

Still, keep Rolle in mind when discussing big man possibilities. He’s on the Celtics’ D-League Affiliate, and he certainly has upside and length galore. Somewhere, Jay Bilas salivates.