Phoenix general manager Ryan McDonough, who spent 10 years working in the Celtics organization, spoke to the Associated Press on Saturday about his team’s top draft pick, and his response to how the Suns wound up with Jackson was cryptic, to say the least. Being that the Celtics, for nothing more than forgoing the right to draft Tatum, could have had either Fultz or Butler simple as that, there is only one way this works out in Boston’s favor: Tatum has to become a better player than Fultz, who has been most experts’ top-rated prospect for the past year, and Butler, a top-15 player right now. “It’s great”, he said.
Advertisement
“We are very pleased with the outcome of this trade, which puts us in the enviable position of selecting first overall in consecutive draft years”, Philadelphia president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said. Boston selected Jaylen Brown with its first round pick in 2016. “I’m a tough critic so I think I have a lot of stuff to get better at and improve on”. He should immediately make an impact with the Sixers and has the potential to be one of the best scoring guards in the National Basketball Association. “I wasn’t ready previous year”.
Still, on some level, Celtics fans are going to long remember this 2017 draft not for the player they got, but rather, for the two players they didn’t get. Now we’re starting to really – we’ve got a lot of position-less players that can dribble, pass and shoot.
“I think it’s been well-documented what kind of a person Jayson is”, Stevens said, via the Boston Globe.
Along with length, Tatum brings to the Celtics is another legitimate scoring option to an offense that was too often shouldered exclusively by Isaiah Thomas last season. And whichever team drafts him will get someone who is arguably one of the most versatile players in this year’s draft.
There’s been tons of speculation that Utah Jazz free agent Gordon Hayward could come to the Celts to team up with his college coach, Brad Stevens.
The draft was almost a week away and he didn’t have time to work out for a team that had the third pick overall knowing that the top two picks (Markelle Fultz at No. 1 and Lonzo Ball at No. 2) were essentially accounted for? I was all for it.
Ainge insists Tatum would have been his pick regardless of Jackson’s decision, and he may end up being a better fit in the Celtics lineup. “You can’t really tell by my emotions, but I feel good”.
“Yes, we would have picked him with the first pick”, Ainge said according to CSN New England.
Even after being drafted third overall and being a top-five recruit coming out of high school, Tatum wasn’t shy when it came to talking about what he needed to work on. “This NBA draft will probably feature 14 or 15 freshmen and one, two, three global teenagers in the first round”, said Fraschilla, who sees the draft similar to baseball.
If all goes to plan, Cole hopes to transform it into a transitional house for a single mom who will be able to live there with her kids rent-free for a year while she gets back on her feet.
“LeBron James, he’s the difference”, the 19-year-old St. Louis native said.
But will they love him enough to take the time to let Mika develop?
He turned out to be correct.
“I look at it as a great opportunity”, he said.
Boston would go on to draft St. Mary’s Semi Ojeleye in the second round at No. 37, Arizona product Kadeem Allen (No. 53), and Jabari Bird from Cal (No. 56) to close out the night.
For fans interested in finding out picks as soon as possible, it will be fun to watch Woj and Stein duke it out for what could be the last time.
Advertisement
Mason averaged 20.9 points, 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds in his final season at KU and appeared in 36.1 minutes per game, the highest total of any player in the Bill Self era.
