Celtics trade No. 1 to 76ers

Draft order

History will say the Boston Celtics passed on the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft.

Danny Ainge isn’t worried. Philadelphia and Boston completed their trade of draft picks Monday, the 76ers acquiring the No. 1 pick from the Celtics and netting the chance to draft Washington guard Markelle Fultz. The Celtics moved down two spots to No. 3 and picked up another firstround selection in either 2018 or 2019 — with Ainge saying the deal came at no cost to Boston whatsoever.

“We’re getting the player we want. They’re getting the player they want,” said Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations. “And we’re getting an additional player that we want in next year’s draft or the year after. It’s a good deal for both teams.”

The player Philadelphia wants is clear: The 76ers wouldn’t say it Monday, but they’re going to take Fultz barring something cataclysmic happening before Thursday.

“We felt like the move from 3 to 1 was worth the cost of a first-round pick in the future,” 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said.

Next up will be the Los Angeles Lakers, who are expected to take UCLA guard Lonzo Ball.

And then come the Celtics, starting the real intrigue. If Ainge is to be believed, even they don’t know who they will take at No. 3 — but

he insisted that whichever choice they make would have been the choice they made at No. 1 if this deal hadn’t gone down. The Celtics had Duke’s Jayson Tatum in for a workout on Monday and hope to have Kansas’ Josh Jackson in today.

“I think they’re both terrific players,” Ainge said. “I’ll say that. I like both of those kids. I think they’re both terrific talents.”

So the way he looks at it, the deal is a win-win.

For now, Boston has seven first-round picks in the next three years. That means the Celtics could be gearing up for more moves soon.

After finishing with the No. 1 seed in the East this season before getting ousted in the conference finals by Cleveland in a one-sided series, the Celtics have considered packaging some of their future picks for an established star who could help them close the gap on the Cavaliers and Golden State.

“We are certainly aware of our competition,” Ainge said. “We know how good Cleveland is, and we know how good Golden State is. We watched the same Finals that everybody did. But I think we’re still moving on the same path. And when the right deals come around, we will move on them.”

Philadelphia will hold the No. 1 pick for the second consecutive year. The Sixers worked Fultz out Saturday night as talks with the Celtics got to the final stages. It was agreed to in principle at that point, with the last holdup being the customary league approval on the terms, which came Monday.

There are some conditions on the future first-rounder Boston gets out of this deal. If the Lakers hold a pick between No. 2 and No. 5 next season, Boston now gets that one as well. If not, Philadelphia will send Boston either its own first-rounder in 2019 or Sacramento’s first-rounder that year.