Nets general manager Sean Marks was sitting in the front row along the east baseline chatting with a reporter Monday night when Danny Ainge happened by and greeted him.

With the last of the Brooklyn picks sent to the Celtics in the 2013 Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett-for-a-truckload deal having been exhausted last June, Marks was asked if it was easier now to shake the hand of the Green’s president of basketball operations. His club no longer is a subsidiary of the Celtics.

He laughed.

“No, Danny and I have known each other for a long time,” said Marks, who was still nearly three years away from taking the Brooklyn job when Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov got stars in his eyes and pushed for the trade.

“Look, am I jealous he had all those picks? Sure, but who wouldn’t be? But Boston’s done a heck of a job, and kudos to those guys.”

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Boston's Marcus Smart #36 celebrates the Celtics' 116-95 win over the Brooklyn Nets during the second half of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics scores over Kenneth Faried #35 of the Brooklyn Nets during the second half of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Rodions Kurucs #00 of the Brooklyn Nets passes the ball away from Boston Celtics' Al Horford and Marcus Smart during the first half of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)



BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Gordon Hayward #20 of the Boston Celtics, right, takes control of a loose ball away from Treveon Graham #21 of the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Daniel Theis #27 of the Boston Celtics dunks the ball over Brooklyn Nets' Kenneth Faried #35 and Treveon Graham #21 during the second half of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Marcus Morris #13 of the Boston Celtics shoots the ball past Jarrett Allen #31 of the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)



BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics, left, is fouled by Shabazz Napier #13 of the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Head coach Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics yells instructions against the Brooklyn Nets during the second half of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics, left, is defended by D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)



BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: Members of the Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum, left, Guerschon Yabusele, Brad Wanamaker, and Aron Baynes celebrates a three point basket against the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)

The four first-rounders — three straight-out and one via a 2017 swap of positions — turned into James Young, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum (after the deal with Philadelphia) and, as the major cog in the Celtics’ trade with Cleveland, Kyrie Irving. And the C’s still have a 2019 first-round choice coming from either Philly or Sacramento, whichever is more favorable, as part of getting out of the way so the 76ers could take Markelle Fultz.

The Nets never got what they wanted out of Pierce and Garnett, and finishing in the lottery the past three years didn’t get them the draft rewards they needed.

But Marks has cobbled together more than just a competitive outfit, one that took 12 wins in the previous 15 games into Monday’s meeting with the Celtics.

What’s more, Marks can check his stock of future drafts, and there, for as far as his eyes can see, are his own first-round picks.

“Obviously we like that. I think it’s another tool in your toolbox,” he said. “You know, we’ve had to be a little creative over the course of the last couple of years in trying to add pieces, so it’s nice to already have that one in there. And you never know how you’re going to use them. That’s the great thing. It’s just about having that flexibility to move forward.”

And he has a team that, through even its modest success, is far more attractive now to free agents.

“Well, I’d be lying if we didn’t like winning a game every now and then,” Marks said. “That’s what we’re all in this business for. And I give a ton of credit to the coaching staff and performers, the guys that are really in the dugout on a nightly basis and keep grinding through it. The players have been terrific over this stretch. You know, we had a hard couple of weeks there where you lose eight in a row and we lose Caris (LeVert), so we had to deal with the hangover of his injury. So to battle back through that, to have a belief that we can compete and win games, it’s great. It’s great to see, and they deserve it. The players really deserve it.”

So does Marks. He had other options before taking the Nets job. As noted in this space before, one potential GM candidate looked at the picks still owed the Celts and backed away. He told me, “I didn’t want to be Boston’s bitch for the next three years.”

But Marks, a 5-for-25 career 3-point shooter, took an even longer shot and left a comfortable position in the San Antonio front office.

“I mean, that’s exactly it. I think if you’re not up for a challenge in life, I don’t know why we do this,” he said. “That’s the whole point. I love the market. I love the challenge. I was obviously going to bid on the people that bid on it with me, and I’m very, very fortunate to have Kenny (Atkinson) and the group of coaches that said, ‘Heck yeah, we’re in on this,’ and to have Trajan (Langdon, assistant GM) and the rest of the front office. I mean, have we doubted it for a minute? Honestly, I don’t think so. There hasn’t been one bit of doubt. Everybody’s on the same page. We’re pulling in the same direction. It doesn’t mean we agree on everything, because we don’t, but it’s a great collaborative environment.

“And when you look at it, everybody that decided to join me here sacrificed something. You could argue that I had the best job in the NBA. I was assistant GM for the Spurs. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that, right? So I had to give up something. I had to be willing to sacrifice something. And every person, to a man or woman, who’s jumped on board here, has left a great opportunity to come and believe in Brooklyn, believe in our ownership, believe in the Nets. And we now it’s going to be a grind. By no means does what we’ve done lately mean we’re out of it. We know we’re going to keep grinding and we have a long way to go, but I think it’s that belief in one another that’s certainly helped.”

It’s helped, as well, that the Nets are no longer under the Celtics’ thumb. It makes it easier for Sean Marks to greet Danny Ainge. Watching Irving, Brown and Tatum in green and white still has its pains, however.