The NBA playoffs were dull, lopsided and predictable. The NBA crowned a champion, but with little (outside of the Bay Area) to celebrate. Even Kevin Durant spit out his post-championship beer.

Then came the ever after.

The league has come off its hinges in the last week, with draft picks swapped, players opting out, stars on the blocks and everyone making plans to construct super-teams that might possibly combat the Golden State Warriors. It’s wild. It may not be great for the NBA in the long term, but as a show, it’s on a run.

Such a run that not even LaVar Ball can say something to break through the news clutter.

Where to start? Normally, the Boston Celtics trading the No. 1 overall selection to Philadelphia for the No. 3 and a future No. 1, perhaps even a top-five pick next year, would be the story of the draft build-up.

Celtics president Danny Ainge predicted he would be able to get the player he wanted anyway (speculated to be Josh Jackson of Kansas) at three, so it was no risk. (Note: This is what executives in every sport always say when they drop back in the draft. It’s in the training manual for the job.)

Philly gets Washington’s Markelle Fultz, a brilliant point guard to team with potential young stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, in an attempt to turn “The Process” into a post-LeBron Eastern contender. Boston and Philly may be Eastern Conference contenders in the years to come, adding some spice to the deal.

View photos Markelle Fultz will be part of an intriguing core in Philadelphia. (AP) More

It’s a fascinating trade made even more fascinating when Jackson reportedly refused to work out for Boston unless he is guaranteed to be the No. 3 selection. Would that put 6-foot-8 forward Jayson Tatum from Duke on Boston’s radar? It’s not like he isn’t capable of being the best player in this draft. Ditto for Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox, although Boston probably isn’t interested in someone to handle the ball right now.

Meanwhile, the Los Angles Lakers, at No. 2, appear set to pick Lonzo Ball and his dad, who were once the biggest story in the draft in part because they refused to work out for anyone other than the hometown Lakers and in part because no one knows what LaVar might do or say on Thursday.

The top of the draft is rarely this (a) stacked and (b) intriguing.

This is all quaint though in the backdrop of everything else. No one is certain if any of these guys will be great NBA players – the history of the top five is littered with busts.

Consider D’Angelo Russell, whom the Lakers took No. 2 overall in 2015. He is a good player but is dealing with maturity issues. He also just got shipped out of LA to Brooklyn along with Timofey Mozgov in a salary dump. The goal? Merely try to get LeBron James to leave Cleveland as a free agent after the 2017-18 season and sign to finish his career in LA.

Now that’s a power move by Magic Johnson.

View photos The Lakers dealt D’Angelo Russell in a cap-clearing move. (AP) More

It’s intriguing considering the Lakers are trying to build a power on the West Coast while archrival Boston is going for broke on the East Coast. The Celtics have as many as seven first-round draft picks in the next three years. That gives them assets and perhaps cap space with a focus on bringing in New Orleans megastar Anthony Davis at some point, or in the short term, trading for either Indiana’s Paul George or Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, who are both now on the block.