You don't need his comments from today to know that he is willing to trade down depending on who he likes.  If, at the point the Celtics pick, Ainge projects the guy he likes the most to be available five slots later, he would certainly try to trade down and pick up additional assets.

Any decision to make such a trade won't happen until draft day, though.

I really believe that you only trade down when other teams seems to be overpaying for your own draft selection.

There could be teams like that who thinks they are one piece away, and the piece they are looking at is out of their reach at Draft Night, so they'd rather overpay and give future picks/assets.

Of course overpaying is different from person to person. But the only reason we should trade down is if we get an overpay.

Sure--Ainge is an opportunist, but I guess I'm wondering if people think that trading down might already be Plan A.  Would it be better for us to have a bunch of picks in one year or picks spread out over a few years?

If your goal is to land the next LeBron, you want to have the flexibility to trade up at some point, right?  Maybe Danny will stockpile a bunch of picks in a particular year to make it more likely that he can trade up for a top pick. 

I don't envision him trading away a top 5 pick, but I can see him trading down from 7 to 15, for example, if he picks up a future pick in the deal.  I can also see him trading away a pick in the 7-10 range this year for a pick that could help him get a top three pick next year.