The Boston Celtics pulled off a pre-draft trade that pretty much showed their hand when it came to their plans for the 2017 NBA Draft. They held the number one overall pick, thanks in part to a successful draft lottery and a historically bad trade from the Brooklyn Nets a few years ago, and the consensus top pick was Markelle Fultz. But the fit was odd for the Celtics given their backcourt setup at the time and the lack of wing scorers.
The Celtics eventually decided to trade the top pick with the Philadelphia 76ers and they moved back two spots and got a future first round draft selection for their troubles. Boston was playing with house money with this pick, so even if they stayed at the top spot and selected Fultz or moved back for a wingman like Jayson Tatum or Josh Jackson, they could still select one of these rookies and not depend on them to have to immediately contribute. Much like their situation last year with Jaylen Brown.
They ended up with Jayson Tatum at the third overall pick and the Celtics fans enjoyed it. He’s a great wing scorer who can create his own shot and play anywhere from the two to even a small ball four. His defense will have to improve but luckily for him, there are guys on the roster right now who can make up for his current deficiencies. Following the draft, Celtics GM Danny Ainge said that Jayson Tatum was their choice all along and Tatum confirmed that in a recent interview.
Tatum was a guest on the “WTF in the Attic” podcast with DJ Cuddy Montana and candidly spoke about the Celtics draft strategy when it came to the draft pick swap with the 76ers.
“The Celtics were always going to pick me number one, but Philly didn’t know that. Philly thought that Boston was going to pick Markelle, so Philly traded the pick and gave Boston a pick for next year. So Boston was like, ‘Well, we can still get the player we want, a future pick and then we get the player we wanted for less money.’ So Boston still got all what they wanted, and Philly had to give up still to get the player…. Philly didn’t know that Boston was going to pick me, so that’s why they traded up.”
The part where Tatum opens up about the selection begins at the 11:50 mark. The video below is courtesy of DJ Cuddy’s YouTube page.
