Celtics President: 'I'm happy we can get to work and start building’

Celtics President Rich Gotham knew the Celtics' fate before anyone else in the Celtics organization, or any of their fans.

He was in the room where the ping pong balls fell, and was forced to stay there with the rest of the people in the room until the announcement of the picks were made to the rest of the world.

Not having landed in the top three, it wasn't exactly the ideal situation for Gotham.

"It wasn't fun," Gotham said. "I was sitting next to the Lakers guy which was unusual the Celtics and the Lakers sitting there in the same boat, but it just sort of cemented home that we're not supposed to be there, the Lakers probably aren't supposed to be there. But you learn your fate about an hour before everyone else does so you just kind of have to sit on it.

"If it's good news, then you're sitting on positive news that you want to tell everyone. And if it's bad news you're just kind of sitting there with your thoughts wishing you could get out of the room. Not the most fun duty, but ultimately statistically No. 6 was the most likely outcome for us, that's where we landed, and we're going to get a good player at six. I feel really good about that."

Either way, Boston wasn't banking on a top pick. They haven't in the past, and they won't start now.

"The lottery isn't really the domain of the Celtics," Gotham said. "We'll do it the old fashioned way we always do it. It's never been through free agency, it's never been through the lottery, it's been through using those draft picks well. That No. 6, that No. 17 building a good team and making smart acquisitions to bring us back, and that's hopefully what we'll set about doing. Now that we know the pick we have we can set about doing that."