The Celtics have the 16th and 20th overall picks in hand as they survey things at the NBA's pre-draft camp here, but there is a real question whether they'll be making those choices on June 26. And if they do, it's likely one of the picks will be a not-ready type who will play overseas for a year or two.

The bottom line is that unless the Celts can draft two players who can contribute this coming season (a longshot at best), they'd rather not be forced into a pair of three-year contractual commitments - even if the 20th choice is for relatively short money.

``We can make both picks, but will we?'' said Ainge. ``It all depends on who we draft. We can draft two and keep them if we think they can help us. But there are so many possibilities. We need players. We need to increase our talent pool.

``We have opportunities to move down as well as move up. We could move down and get an extra pick. We could trade the 16th pick, use the 20th and get two more picks later. That could keep us out of getting two guaranteed (contracts). We could also use one pick and a player or both picks to move up. There's a whole bunch of possibilities. That's why you have to be aware of the top 50 guys in the draft - just to know what your options are.'' . . .