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Up until the weekend before the NBA Draft in 2017, Jayson Tatum thought he would be a member of the Phoenix Suns, the team with the No. 4 pick. The top pick appeared set, Washington guard Markelle Fultz. The Lakers, at No. 2, had zeroed in on Lonzo Ball, though there were some rumblings that they had interest in Josh Jackson.
Whomever had No. 3—it was Philadelphia until the Sixers swapped for the Celtics’ No. 1 pick three days before the draft—was expected to take Jackson. That would leave Tatum to join Devin Booker in Phoenix. And he was hoping that was how things would stay.
On the “All the Smoke” podcast, Tatum said that after he met with Suns coach Earl Watson, he was sold on being half a tandem with Booker. “Earl is my guy,” Tatum said. “I called my mom, I’m like, ‘Yo, I think I want to go to Phoenix.”
But Boston came calling after trading down to No. 3. The Celtics had no interest in Ball (who would not come in for a workout) and did not much want Jackson, either. It was Tatum, who had averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in one season at Duke, they were after all along.
Tatum Nearly Refused Celtics Workout
Tatum was stuck on the thought of going to Phoenix. In fact, when the Celtics set up a workout for Tatum three days before the draft, Tatum did not want to go. His agent tried to sell him on the prospect of playing for Boston.
“We hang up,” Tatum said. “I’m like, ‘I’m not going to this workout. I’m cool.”
Instead, it was Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski who persuaded Tatum to go workout for the Celtics, praising coach Brad Stevens and the Boston organization. That’s what got Tatum to go work out for the Celtics. He had an excellent workout there, then hopped on a train to New York for the draft. That Thursday night, he became a Celtic.
Earl Watson Wanted Jayson Tatum
That proved to be a tough blow for the Suns, especially for Watson, who had coveted Tatum. Watson told Jay King of The Athletic that Suns owner Robert Sarver was sold on Jackson but Watson felt the Suns needed to do all they could to get Tatum.
“We need to f—ing get Tatum,” Watson recalled saying.
He went on: “As a fan, that what-if moment lives with me every day. As a fan who just loves to watch basketball, man, that would have been crazy. Crazy.”
Of course, it lives with Watson in ways beyond his fandom. Jackson flamed out after two seasons in Phoenix, scoring 12.3 points but shooting just 41.5 percent from the field. He was dealt away to Memphis, where he played only 18 games this season. Watson was fired three games into the 2017-18 season.
Tatum, meanwhile, has blossomed into the All-Star that Watson thought he would be. He was averaging 23.6 points on 44.8 percent shooting, making 39.8 percent of his 3-pointers when the NBA season was suspended in March.
Boston, it turns out, as agreed with Tatum.
“There was a part of me that didn’t really want to go to Boston because they just were the No. 1 team in the East,” Tatum said. “They had Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, (Marcus) Smart, (Jaylen Brown), Jae Crowder. I was like, man, I’m not going to play. I’m trying to get buckets.
“But everything worked out.”
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