The Boston Celtics are interested in trading up to the Dallas Mavericks' No. 5 spot in the upcoming NBA Draft, sources tell Sporting News, with their target being University of Texas center Mohamed Bamba.

What do the Mavs know about this?

And what should the Mavs think about this?

While I'm told by NBA people that my friend Sean Deveaney's information at Sporting News is solid and accurate, sources inside the Mavs organization tell me that they are unaware of this Boston interest -- meaning, I'm told, that the Celtics are touching base with Bamba's people on the idea without having yet touched base with the Mavs (or with the Memphis Grizzlies as a possible partner at No. 4, also noted in Deveaney's story.)

From the Celtics' side of things, they seem to want to move up by giving their No. 27 overall pick plus Jaylen Brown, 2016's third-overall pick, a swingman who in the playoffs was good for 18 points per game.

The Mavs are not doing that deal.

Now, if Boston calls and wishes to listen to Dallas' desire for another high-pick kid, the steeper-price forward Jayson Tatum, 2017's third-overall pick?

We'd have ourselves a trade.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban has openly expressed in a series of interviews with DallasBasketball.com a willingness to be "opportunistic'' and "creative'' with the team's premium pick. (Yes, even including trading it.) But that doesn't mean Dallas thinks standing pat is a poor option. Assuming the health of Michael Porter Jr. the Mavs scouting department believes there are six viable names to be chosen that high -- and one of them, of course, is Bamba. Dallas likes him, and obviously so do the Celtics, with Deveaney writing that Boston interviewed the kid with the record wingspan of 7-10 in Chicago during the Scouting Combine.

Worth noting, given the way Celtics GM Danny Ainge has time after time built and rebuild Boston into contenders, maybe his desire to get his hands on Bamba should be endorsement enough for the Mavs to simply stick at 5 and try to take him.

Also of note: The trade proposals that are pushed across teams' tables (and this will be one of those) can end up being a tug-of-war in which the other guy doesn't bother grabbing the rope. Dallas will say "no way'' to the Brown idea. Boston may say "no way'' to the Tatum idea. The same sort of thing is about to unfold between Dallas and Denver, where I promise you the Mavs think this "Faried and 14'' idea is sensible ... while the Nuggets may try something else entirely.

But on this concept? When Ainge calls his old pal Donnie Nelson, the Mavs GM, to kick around ideas? Danny will kick Jaylen Brown.

And Donnie will kick back Jayson Tatum.