NBA Draft Rumors: Boston Celtics President Danny Ainge Looking to Move up in the Draft

By Cheri Cheng - 23 Jun '15 15:09PM

Boston Celtics President Danny Ainge is reportedly trying to move up in the NBA draft, but does not remain too optimistic.

"We're having discussions to move up with both of our picks in the first round. We're trying to move up with at least one of them. I think there will be some movement." Ainge said on Tuesday. "Just there's a lot of talk, a lot more talk [than usual]. I guess I'm hopeful that there's some movement. We have a lot of different things going on, a lot of possibilities. Usually nothing happens. But we're hopeful."

The Celtics currently have four picks in the 2015 draft - Nos. 16, 28, 33 and 45. Ainge stressed that since they will be looking for quality over quantity, they are hoping to entice a deal with this year's and future draft pick selections.

"We have a lot of picks, so we'd like to make fewer picks this year and next year and so forth. But that's really hard to do. Especially around draft time. People fall in love with these players and fall in love with the names and the potential of all these players. Draft time is not an easy time to make deals to move up in the draft. It's very challenging to get up, especially up in the top five or six players," Ainge said.

He added, "[Teams] have to be enticed to move down. Nobody wants to move down."

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that Ainge offered a deal to the Philadelphia 76ers that included point guard Marcus Smart and this year's 16th and 28th picks in exchange for the 76ers' third overall pick and Nerlens Noel. The Sixers, however, did not accept the offer.

"Right now, we don't even know where we'll be drafting or what position we'll be in," Ainge said. "And we think there's going to be a lot of activity on draft night. So, stay tuned. Our draft pick may have been traded before we even make the pick. I'm excited about the draft. It's going to be fun."

The 2015 NBA Draft begins on Thursday, June 25. It will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.