Report: Celtics aggressively shopping No. 3 pick

The Boston Celtics have spent the better part of 12 months trying to figure out how to parlay their plethora of assets into an impact player, and with the 2016 draft just around the corner, they're still hunting for the right deal.

Courtesy of the Brooklyn Nets' bottomless well of beneficence, the Celtics hold the third overall pick in the draft. Because it's widely viewed as a two-player draft, and the Celtics are looking for a difference-making star right now, that pick appears to be more valuable to them as trade bait.

Boston has been "as aggressive as possible" in shopping the pick, CSN's A. Sherrod Blakeley reports.

Reports swirled about the Celtics trying to trigger a blockbuster trade - likely using that Nets pick (though its draft slot wasn't yet known) - at this year's deadline. They were linked to Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, and Dwight Howard, among others. After the deadline passed without incident, team president Danny Ainge said he'd only been presented with one deal he was willing to accept, but the other team backed out of it at the last minute.

If the Celtics can't find an attractive package using the pick before the draft, they're expected to select California forward Jaylen Brown, Blakely reports.