The Celtics interviewed Mo Bamba at the combine -- does that mean they're targeting him?

The Celtics season has been over for less than 72 hours, yet the rumor mill is already gaining steam.

On Wednesday, the latest hoopla involved a draft prospect who could be a nice fit for Boston’s plans. League sources confirmed to Bostonsportsjournal.com Mo Bamba did interview with the Celtics at the draft combine last week, an item first reported by Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

However, what exactly does an interview with a team at a draft combine tell us about how much interest a team has in said player? When you take a closer look at how the combine interview process works, not a whole lot.

All NBA teams have the ability to interview up to 20 players at the draft combine. They do not get to pick who they interview -- instead, that process is left up to the league after a list of 30 players is submitted by each team. There is some prioritization of players with that list of 30 that teams submit, but it’s not clear how much that factors into how the league assigns players to each team.

From there, the league grants teams interviews with 20 players from their list for half-hour blocks. Players can choose to meet with teams they’ve been assigned to or skip said interview. Neither teams nor players can add anyone to their list once they’ve been assigned by the league.

So what does this all mean in regards to Bamba? It’s safe to say fans shouldn't read a whole lot into who the Celtics interviewed at the draft combine, since they aren’t in charge of that process. They’ve got a 66 percent chance of landing any of the 30 players they want to talk to at the combine, so it’s safe to say that Bamba and any other lottery-caliber player at the combine that wouldn't be working out for Boston individually (due to the Celtics’ draft position at No. 27) was going to be on that list. That doesn’t mean Boston is going to trade up for them. It's just a team doing its due diligence as they evaluate their big board.

In his piece, Deveney implies the Celtics could be interested in moving up for Bamba at the No. 4 (Memphis) or No. 5 (Dallas) slot, and he proposes the idea of a player like Jaylen Brown or Terry Rozier being on the table in trade talks along with a future first-round pick (from Sacramento or Memphis).

This chatter doesn't make sense on a few levels. To start, Brown was a No. 3 pick himself just two years ago, who has developed into a top-5 player from his draft class. Including him on top of another likely lottery pick makes little sense when you're dealing for the No. 5 pick. That’s what you call a massive overpay from Boston’s perspective.

Rozier and a future first-round pick is a more plausible scenario, but it’s also a bit of a reach given the talent in this year’s draft class. Rozier’s stock is higher than ever, but he's also going to be done with his bargain rookie contract in one more year and searching for a big payday. He has shown the potential over the past couple of months to be an above-average starting point guard, but his fit with teams like the Mavs (Dennis Smith Jr.) or the Grizzlies (Mike Conley) is iffy at best given their established point guards in place. A future first-round pick from the Kings or Grizzlies is far from guaranteed to land in the top 5 as well, given the revamped lottery odds that go into play next year. So it would be a tough sell for Boston to move up into that range this year with either of those and Rozier.

All of these factors make this Bamba rumor one that fans shouldn’t be getting worked up about. While the Celtics did talk to Bamba, they also interviewed other potential lottery picks. The sheer number of interviews the Celtics held doesn’t mean they are targeting each of those guys to move up. The same can be said for Bamba. If he comes up for a workout in Boston, that will be something worth watching. Until then, it’s important to remember an interview at the draft combine usually doesn't mean much for the big picture.