Little more than a month ago, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge smiled as he walked out to meet with a pack of reporters. He was a little late, but the tardiness was understandable. The Celtics had just won the NBA Draft lottery. Ainge had been celebrating with the rest of the front office.

It was widely assumed Ainge would keep the pick, use it on Markelle Fultz, and continue pushing the Celtics toward a promising future. That was the obvious path. The easiest path. And, who knows, maybe the best path. The Celtics could have still cleared cap space to chase a top free agent like Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin. They would have still held next year's unprotected Brooklyn pick to continue stocking the roster with bright young talent. And they would have added Fultz, a dazzling playmaker with few holes in his game, to a team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals this past season.

But, that night, Ainge gave the first hint he might be open to wheeling and dealing. When asked how many times he had seen Fultz in person, Ainge answered the question, but refused to let anyone think he had settled on the Washington guard at No. 1.

"And I saw (Lonzo) Ball play the same. And (Jayson) Tatum. And (Josh) Jackson," Ainge said. "Yeah, I saw them all."

The message: Don't just assume I'll take Fultz. Ainge added he would have "a lot of fun" exploring all of his options with the top pick.

He wasn't lying. The Celtics found the option they liked this weekend, agreeing to a stunning trade that will send the No. 1 overall selection to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the No. 3 pick in this year's draft plus the Los Angeles Lakers' pick in next year's draft, which, unless it becomes 2-5 overall, will turn into the 2019 Kings pick. Even when the conventional route seemed lovely, Boston chose chaos and future assets.

First, let's try to digest the trade return. The '18 Los Angeles Lakers pick could be one of the best in the lottery, and the Celtics, assuming they keep the third pick in this year's draft, will still get a talented prospect there. Looking forward, it's possible the Celtics will end up with two top-five picks (Brooklyn's and LA's) in next year's draft, plus Jaylen Brown and whoever they take third next week already on the roster. The cash savings between the salary for the third pick this year, compared to the first, will allow the Celtics to hold onto more of their current roster while opening up maximum cap space. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals, will be a major free-agent player once July 1 hits, and have a growing pack of young players/draft picks. Depending on future lottery results and the ultimate difference between Fultz and the third pick, this trade could pay off for Boston in a big way.

Still, barring further trades, this one feels misguided. Ainge recently stated his team needs great players, not good ones. Well, the top pick is a fine place to find a great player. Even if there might not be a big dropoff from No. 1 to No. 3 in this draft (for what it's worth, DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony believes there is), the Celtics just punted on a chance to select the top prospect in a loaded draft. Fultz is widely regarded as the best talent because he has a complete skill set with all the physical attributes teams want in a point guard. Front offices play percentages, and he seems like the safest bet. Maybe he wouldn't have been the most natural fit next to Isaiah Thomas, but they both have enough off-ball skills that the duo would have held a world of promise, at least on one end of the court. If you don't think Brad Stevens could have made that backcourt work, you probably weren't watching all the quirky guard combinations he used, to strong effect, during the playoffs.

Now, from a viewpoint outside of the front office, the Celtics' path is less clear. Maybe they're all-in on somebody who figures to be available at No. 3. Maybe they're sold enough on Ball, Jackson, Tatum and/or somebody else that the extra assets from Philadelphia convinced them to roll the dice. Maybe they have other trades brewing to turn all this draft equity into actual players; it seems ambitious to load up the roster now, when the Golden State Warriors could rule the world for years, but the Celtics could potentially pursue a trade for somebody like Jimmy Butler or Paul George and still clear room for a top free agent. Trading the No. 1 pick feels like it could be a preamble to something else:

One problem for Cs once they got #1 pick was it seemed too much to give up. Breaking that asset into smaller pieces helps w/ trades. — Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) June 18, 2017

Even if the Celtics do land, say, Butler and Hayward, it's possible they'll build a roster that will cost a boatload of money and never win a title. The Warriors are one of the most remarkable teams ever assembled; that's partly why it seemed wise to keep the No. 1 pick, build out the young core, and exercise patience while keeping eyes open for any monster win-now opportunities.

Boston could still do that with the third pick, but it will be with a prospect named something other than Markelle Fultz. As Celtics fans hurl obscenities into the wind, the 19-year-old will be headed to the 76ers, who are putting together a wonderful collection of young talent. That's another layer to all of this: the Celtics might have just bolstered a future Eastern Conference power. Assuming health (which, admittedly, could be a major assumption), the quartet of Fultz, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric could develop into a Thunder-ish brigade of homegrown stars.

The full scope of this trade won't emerge for years, but the Celtics took a risk here, something they have largely avoided since moving on from the Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce era. Ainge has batted about ideas for a number of blockbuster trades over the last couple of years, but hadn't pulled the trigger on one until now, preferring to take minor wins wherever he could, all while positioning himself to chase something huge. This deal, though? Well, these fireworks lit up the entire NBA sky.

Regardless of how this trade works out, the Celtics are set up to compete now and develop a young core for later. It's still ridiculous to add the No. 3 pick, plus maybe two top lottery picks next year, to an Eastern Conference finalist. The Celtics' combination of players, draft equity and cap space is preposterous. They might have flipped one great young prospect into two, and it's possible the third pick (probably Ball, Jackson or Tatum) will end up better than the first pick (presumably Fultz). As talented as Fultz is, this draft is said to have several potential stars, not just one.

It's also possible that Fultz becomes a 12-time All-Star, and that whoever Boston takes two spots later tops out as an average starter or worse. The draft is always a bit of a crap shoot, but Fultz doesn't have any real doubters; to acquire a player who is unanimously considered a potential superstar, the Celtics only needed to inform the NBA they had settled on Fultz.

Say this about Ainge: public perception will never alter his decision-making process. If he cared what fans thought, he would have held onto the opportunity to take Fultz. If he gave a lick about what he might hear on sports radio, Ainge would have refused Philadelphia's offer.

But Ainge has guts. Ainge is willing to put his reputation on the line. The move was risky. It was bold. And if Ainge doesn't have a damn good idea of what to do next, he could come out of this looking really bad. Even if Ainge does know what he's doing, Fultz will forever be a what-if in Boston. Instead of just taking the consensus top pick, the Celtics pulled off a trade that will be debated for a long, long time.