Despite being limited to veteran’s minimum offers, the Boston Celtics are reportedly still involved in discussions with free agent rebounder Reggie Evans. (Boston Globe)

The Celtics remain in the running for free-agent forward Reggie Evans but they only have the veteran minimum to offer. Evans is seeking a multiyear deal.

I hate being realistic, but the veteran’s minimum probably won’t be enough to lure Evans to Boston. In fact, after Kwame Brown signed for $7 million yesterday to establish the market, the Celtics are going to be hard-pressed to find any big man using just the veteran’s minimum.

In the most likely scenario, Kevin Garnett will play more center than ever before, Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox will slide into the pivot position every once in a while and Jermaine O’Neal will man the middle whenever he’s physically able to play (don’t hold your breath). Greg Stiemsma, a D-League center participating in training camp with a partially guaranteed deal, also has a legitimate shot to make the team. I don’t know much about him, but he’s a 6-foot-11, 260-pound banger with limited offensive acumen and a D-League Defensive Player of the Year Award in his back pocket.

The following sentence written about Stiemsma is pretty promising: “Who wants to drive the lane to meet a behemoth like him when they could instead hang out on the perimeter?”

But this description is not: “Nothing but a shot blocker. Not even a good rebounder, really.”

You know the old saying: Shoot for the moon, because even if you miss you’ll still land among Reggie Evans.

Evans isn’t phenomenal. He probably wouldn’t lead your local YMCA rec league in scoring average. But he does one thing better than almost everybody else in the world, and that one thing happens to be one of Boston’s biggest weaknesses from last season: rebounding. He’s not David West, but he’d help if he’s willing to accept the mini mid-level.

P.S. — If you are an available power forward, chances are that Danny Ainge is staking out your house and calling your agent 782 times per day.

Teams who have been desperate for rebounding for the past three years — and especially those who need to acquire rebounding without spending an obscene amount of money — can do a lot worse than Reggie Evans. For all his flaws, and Evans has many as a player, not least of which is an utter inability to put the ball through the hoop, he’s a rebounding machine.

For comparison’s sake, Evans grabbed 25.7% of all available rebounds last season. Kevin Garnett led Boston in rebounds and grabbed 17.5% of available rebounds. Shaq led Boston by grabbing 8.4% of available offensive rebounds. Evans snatched 17.3%, and somehow elevated the notoriously soft Toronto Raptors to the exact same rebound rate (49.5%) held by Boston.

Evans’ younger brother, Tyreke, has more offensive ability in a single hair follicle than Reggie has in his entire body. Yet Reggie Evans has a specialty — dollar for dollar, he rebounds the ball better than just about anybody in the NBA. He’s not perfect. He’s undersized. He shoots like he’s blindfolded and just spent finished ten rounds of dizzy bat. He once grabbed Chris Kaman’s balls. His beard can get quite unkempt. But with such small pockets, the Celtics need to make decisions this summer to improve their team. And Evans, despite his shortcomings, has the potential to take one of Boston’s biggest weaknesses and turn it into a strength.

Sadly, even Evans might be out of their pay zone. He made $5 million last season and is coming off a career year. Damn you, mini mid-level.

Every once in a while, I link to a few articles from other writers around the internet. You know, I throw some dimes.

Reggie Evans.

1. Reggie Evans calls Kevin Garnett a chihuahua

“I’d love to see Charlie and KG in the ring. I’d pick Charlie,” Evans told the Toronto Sun. “I’ve seen KG get his ass whupped. … He’s always barking, and when it’s time to get physical, he’s always been a little chihuahua.”

First things first: spelling chihuahua correctly is no small task. Second things second: I’ve already written about Garnett’s fake tough guy image, so instead I leave you with this:

2. SCAL RETURNS TO BOSTON TONIGHT!!!!!

And so is Tom Thibodeau. Thibs was very gracious when he spoke about returning to Boston.

“It’s going to bring back a lot of fond memories,” Thibodeau told Peter May. “What that [Celtics] organization did for me, from ownership to [director of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] to Doc — it put me in the position that I’m in today. There’s a great appreciation of that on my part.”

“The Boston situation was a great situation for me,” he added. “I wasn’t going to leave unless a great opportunity came along. The Bulls situation was exactly what I was looking for. They had a good, young nucleus. They had cap space. They did a great job of planning. And I was fortunate to be in a position where I could take it. It looked like the best fit.”

Okay, Thibs, you seem like a great guy. But back to Scal. I hope the Celtics give him a video tribute like they did for Eddie House.

3. C’s Big Three not very efficient

In related news, Ray Allen has officially been kicked out of the Big Three.

NBA.com ranked the top ten trios in the NBA, based on average PER and cumulative win shares. The C’s Big Three (Rondo, Garnett, Pierce) had the second-highest combined Win Score but the second-worst average PER. Those damn turnovers.

The leaders in both categories? The damn Lakers.

4. Tweet tweet tweet!

Avery Bradley tweeted, “Minor setback for a major comeback.” Whether that means he’s suffered yet another (!) setback, I don’t know. But I look forward to the major comeback, even though it’s hard to call it a comeback considering he’s never played a second in his NBA career.

And in case you were wondering, Jermaine O’Neal’s day got off to a bad start.

5. Scal spits Celtics knowledge

“Mentally, he’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever play against,” Scalabrine said of Rajon Rondo. “Some players play out of instincts and what they see they can go and attack. He plays out of concepts. He’s like Doc, or a guy like Mark Jackson, they see stuff that could happen and a way that you could beat a team that most of the people, including players, don’t see.”

If you want some Rondo stats, click here. But more importantly, did you know that Antoine Walker once had a game with 14 assists and zero turnovers?

As for KG’s bullying tactics: “Kevin gets in your head probably better than anybody.”

6. Zing

Not at all Celtics related, but still:

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

Remember when Chris Bosh got dunked on by Paul Pierce? Pierce drove down the middle, slightly lifted his knee, bounced of Bosh’s chest and unleashed fury on Bosh’s face. Not only was Bosh humiliated, but so were his brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and even his dead ancestors.

Reggie Evans told WEEI that Bosh will use that dunk as motivation this season, which is fine. I don’t know what motivates Bosh. I know I’d be driven by winning my first title and shedding my image of being a soft loser, and wouldn’t care very much about one meaningless dunk. But that’s just me, ya know? Being dunked on might be what motors Bosh.

But Evans took it one step too far (or a few miles too far) and crossed the line of realism.

“Chris, with his competitive nature, I could see how he would be looking forward to playing him again,” Evans said. ”It’s just like Kobe Bryant losing to Boston in the Finals.”

So Chris Bosh getting dunked on by Paul Pierce is “just like” Kobe losing in the NBA Finals? Only if this one time I patted my friend on the back was “just like” the time Reggie Evans grabbed Chris Kaman’s balls.

Oh, well. I’m not even worked up about Evans’s comments. I actually don’t care much what Reggie Evans thinks about Chris Bosh’s motivation. Or, really, what Reggie Evans thinks about anything at all. I just wanted an excuse to use the highlight.