Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has taken steps toward superstardom during his three years in Boston, enjoying a breakout season and becoming an All-NBA candidate in 2019/20. However, appearing on All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson (video link), Tatum admitted that in the days leading up to the 2017 draft, he was hoping he’d end up with the Suns rather than the Celtics.
As Tatum explains, with Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball widely expected to go first and second overall, he thought there was a chance he’d go to Philadelphia at No. 3 or Phoenix at No. 4. Just five days before the draft, he visited Phoenix and became smitten with the Suns, who were talking about the idea of pairing him with Devin Booker.
“I called my mom like, ‘I think I want to go to Phoenix,'” Tatum told Barnes and Jackson.
However, the landscape at the top of the draft shifted when the Celtics and Sixers reached an agreement on a trade that would send the No. 1 pick to Philadelphia and the No. 3 pick to Boston. According to Tatum, he got word of that deal shortly after his meeting with the Suns, when he was still in Phoenix.
“My agent calls me, he’s like, ‘Danny Ainge called and said they’re going to trade their pick. They’re going to go to No. 3 and they want you to come to Boston the next day to work out,'” Tatum said. “I’m like, ‘No, I don’t want to go to Boston. I like it out here in Phoenix. It’s cool. The weather’s nice, I’ll get a big house, I’ll get a pool. My mom’s going to be out here.'”
According to Tatum, his agent talked up Boston head coach Brad Stevens and the Celtics’ storied history on that phone call and asked him to think about visiting the team. However, by the end of their conversation, Tatum still wasn’t sold.
“We hang up and I’m like, ‘I’m not going to this workout. I’m cool,'” Tatum said.
As Tatum tells it, it took a call from Mike Krzyzewski, his former head coach at Duke, to convince him to work out for the Celtics. Coach K told the young forward that he could learn a lot from Stevens and that he could succeed in Boston, prompting Tatum to visit the C’s just three days before the draft.
While the former Blue Devil still wasn’t convinced at the time that Phoenix wasn’t a better fit for him, he admits that everything ultimately worked out for the best after Boston selected him with the third overall pick.
“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 told Barnes and Jackson. “They had Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, (Marcus) Smart, JB (Jaylen Brown), Jae Crowder. I was like, ‘Man, I’m not going to play.’ … But everything worked out. It was the best decision.”
He wasn’t wrong.
and the truth comes out
Doesn’t matter Phoenix or Boston he isn’t winning a title anytime soon. Had Phoenix picked him he could of enjoyed the weather 9 months a year.
I mean I get it – Philly as an area blows, JJ didn’t even live there he lived & commuted from NYC lol.
But Phx is just basketball purgatory.
JJ?
The Suns never broke through, but Steve Nash kept them consistently good in their era and Tatum may have had that in mind.
everyone hates Boston
This is funny. How do you know when the Celtics will win their next championship. Obviously you are not paying attention as to how well they have played with Tatum, Brown, Hayward and Walker and they have 3 first round picks in the draft. I wouldn’t sleep on that team. Just look at the comments from the Labron and the NBA’s best players about Boston. Tatum is a stud for sure.
Probably not very soon, they only won 1 in the last 34 years, so really chances ain’t that good for them, more has-beens than anything else, if you ask me, right?
Has beens? Stevens is one of the best coaches in the NBA. Ainge is one of the best GMs. And Tatum and Brown r 21&22. Langford is 19. Grant Williams is 21. Robert Williams 21. Semi is like 24ish. Seems like a bunch of up and comers not has beens to me.
Other than Jalen and Jayson, you’re not doing much to convince me that they have quality young pieces.
What exactly have Romeo, Grant, or Semi done in the L yet? Rob Will is a one dimensional Center. None have more than rotation piece potential.
The C’s are obviously much closer to contending for a title than Phoenix, but they’re not exactly the juggernaut that Boston fans make them out to be.
Well, if the choice is between Boston, Philly or Phoenix… Phoenix is always gonna win, I mean the weather is awesome! I totally agree with JT, this wanting to go to Arizona makes him more likeable!
The Suns had their chance to create a great back court the following year. They should of traded down to select Trae Young or Luka. Can you imagine either one with Booker now that’s scary.
Could you imagine if they’d dealt Ayton & Jackson to Sacramento for #2 and a future pick and drafted Doncic? They’d be on the winning end of a *lot* of 128-122 games.
Imagine going from securing an all-star like Tatum to getting stuck with Josh Jackson