Ainge: Celtics will 'explore the value' of No. 1 pick

Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said Tuesday his team will "probably" keep the No. 1 selection in June's draft, but president Danny Ainge will do his due diligence in gauging the pick's market value.

The Celtics were ensured the top spot in Tuesday's lottery, three months after rumors swirled that they would package their selection - originally belonging to the Brooklyn Nets - away at the trade deadline. The difference now, Ainge says, is that the pick is guaranteed.

"At the trade deadline we were trading away the possibility of the No. 1 pick, a 25 percent chance of the No. 1 pick," Ainge said on a conference call Tuesday night, according to PBT's Kurt Helin. "But that's a 75 percent chance of not having that pick, and that's how teams look at it, which is probably why we didn't get a deal done. Now we have the No. 1 pick and we will explore the value of it."

How the Celtics proceed this summer promises to be one of the NBA's great offseason mysteries. Boasting a roster that reached the Eastern Conference finals, it's not known whether Boston will attempt to beef up with star talent - trade candidates such as Paul George and Jimmy Butler, or free agents like Gordon Hayward, for example - or continue building with youth.

Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball, the consensus top-two draft picks, are point guards - a position the Celtics are stacked at with Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, and Terry Rozier.