[jwplayer 1kPHPGAn]
When Jayson Tatum entered the 2017 NBA Draft after playing one season at Duke, he was projected to be a top-five pick following an impressive freshman year with the Blue Devils.
Tatum was selected with the third overall pick by the Boston Celtics, who traded down after sending the No. 1 pick to the Philadelphia 76ers. As Tatum recalled on the “All The Smoke” podcast with former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, the Celtics worked nearly right up until draft night to decide on Tatum.
Tatum initially had interviewed in the pre-draft process with the Celtics, 76ers and Phoenix Suns, who had the fourth overall pick. He left those meetings thinking he would land with the 76ers but a trip out to Phoenix to meet with then-head coach Earl Watson and the front office had Tatum believing he would soon be with the Suns.
“I went to Phoenix a week before the draft just to meet with Earl Watson and talk to the GM and see the facility,” Tatum said. “I didn’t work out, I just wanted to go meet with everybody. … Earl is my guy. I remember I went to dinner with him the next day. He picked me up, I remember he had a white [Mercedes-Benz] G-Wagon.
He drove me around and showed me all of the houses where the players live. I remember I called my mom like, ‘I think I want to go to Phoenix.’ Earl Watson was like, ‘You come to Phoenix, you and D-Book, two light-skin killers. I’m going to let y’all rock out.’
Shortly after that meeting, Tatum’s agent called him to inform him that Celtics general manager Danny Ainge was interested in selecting him with the third overall pick. Ainge asked that Tatum fly out to Boston for a workout but Tatum initially didn’t want to go.
As it turned out, his former head coach helped the Celtics land him.
“I’m like, ‘I’m not trying to hear that. I want to go to Phoenix,'” Tatum said. “My agent was like, ‘Just think about it.’ And then, we hang up. I’m like, ‘I’m not going to this workout. Like, I’m cool.’ Then, Coach K called me right after my agent did. He’s like ‘Jayson, the Celtics called, they want you to come to work out. I think Brad Stevens is a great coach and it’s a great place to be. You’ll learn a lot.'”
After the Celtics took him in the draft, Tatum was still unsure about going to Boston. The Celtics were the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference at the time and Tatum wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play immediately. Of course, things worked out for Tatum in the end and he eventually was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
And the rest, as they say, is history …
Related: 2020 NBA Draft Big Board: Top 100 after early-entry deadline
[vertical-gallery id=11659]