Tatum says he was Ainge's pick all along

[tazzmaniac]

That is going to be the company line.  Who knows if it's true.  Maybe Ainge would have taken Fultz if he couldn't have gotten future assets.  And why was he so determined to work out Josh Jackson if he was so sure that Tatum was his guy?

Exactly.  If you make a trade like that, you're either going to talk about the great haul you got in return or you're going to say you still got your guy and got another pick.  We got a reasonable return but not a great haul so the story has to be door #2.  Ainge certainly is not going to tell Tatum that he would have taken someone else with the #1 if the trade hadn't occurred. 

Not a fan of Colangelo but he did a good job getting #1 pick protection in both years.  Clearly Fultz was their guy but they didn't sell the farm to get him.  It was much less than pretty much all the posters on here said they'd take to drop down from #1 to #3.  Ainge did good with lower end protection on the Lakers pick.  On paper, it was a good trade for both teams just need to see how it works out. 

[chilidawg]

I don't follow all the pre-draft hype and analysis all that closely - I'll look at some mock drafts, watch some videos, but otherwise don't pay attention to all the "experts".  So my questions:

1) Were there any mock drafts at all where Fultz was not #1?
2) Were there any mock drafts where Tatum was ranked ahead of Ball?  Or where Tatum was #1?
3) I think it became quite obvious that whoever Ainge was set on at #3 was the same player he would have taken at #1 following the trade to Philly.  But what made Ainge so sure that Tatum would be there at #3?  Clearly he had reliable sources indicating that the Lakers would take Ball - but say if the Lakers took Tatum, what was Ainge's plan B?

He was #3 on my list, but Tatum was #4.  Jackson, Ball, Fultz, Tatum.

I'm not an expert.

[jambr380]

I have no doubt this is true but what concerns me more is who is the 'leaker' in the Philadelphia front office? This was a possibly great result but a real risk if Danny had bad Intel wasnt it? He took a risk here that may sink our ship if the info was no good.

In two years if Fultz is an all star and Tatum a bust, imagine how Danny will look.

That would be bad talent evaluation by Danny, but a good move to acquire an additional asset if he was going to take Tatum #1 anyway. I think the worst kept secret around front offices during the weeks leading up to the draft was that Danny was not enamored with Fultz. Philly really wanted him, though, so they were willing to give up an additional, significant asset to ensure they did, but not so significant as they knew Danny would likely draft Tatum anyway.

Danny doesn't really care what mock drafts say. You can see this with Jaylen and Yabusele last year and with Rozier the year before. I am just happy we got something decent in return for the #1 pick along with the guy Danny wanted.

[RockinRyA]

That is going to be the company line.  Who knows if it's true.  Maybe Ainge would have taken Fultz if he couldn't have gotten future assets.  And why was he so determined to work out Josh Jackson if he was so sure that Tatum was his guy?

Because you don't really know who the other teams will pick until the actual pick is made. They might have a pretty good idea that Philly wanted Fultz, but what if the Lakers picked Tatum? What if some other team made a really good offer and it will leave you with something like Jackson as the BPA? A good GM will explore all possibilities.

[Surferdad]

That is going to be the company line.  Who knows if it's true.  Maybe Ainge would have taken Fultz if he couldn't have gotten future assets.  And why was he so determined to work out Josh Jackson if he was so sure that Tatum was his guy?

Because you don't really know who the other teams will pick until the actual pick is made. They might have a pretty good idea that Philly wanted Fultz, but what if the Lakers picked Tatum? What if some other team made a really good offer and it will leave you with something like Jackson as the BPA? A good GM will explore all possibilities.

Not only that, for sure, but working out Jackson could have been a misdirection on DA's part to make it not so obvious who he was going to choose.  Gotta play a few games like that.

[tazzmaniac]

I have no doubt this is true but what concerns me more is who is the 'leaker' in the Philadelphia front office? This was a possibly great result but a real risk if Danny had bad Intel wasnt it? He took a risk here that may sink our ship if the info was no good.

In two years if Fultz is an all star and Tatum a bust, imagine how Danny will look.

That would be bad talent evaluation by Danny, but a good move to acquire an additional asset if he was going to take Tatum #1 anyway. I think the worst kept secret around front offices during the weeks leading up to the draft was that Danny was not enamored with Fultz. Philly really wanted him, though, so they were willing to give up an additional, significant asset to ensure they did, but not so significant as they knew Danny would likely draft Tatum anyway.

Danny doesn't really care what mock drafts say. You can see this with Jaylen and Yabusele last year and with Rozier the year before. I am just happy we got something decent in return for the #1 pick along with the guy Danny wanted.

I don't think any GM cares about mock drafts.  Danny is in a much better position than most GMs.  He is fully in charge.  He isn't really pressured to win now.  He has good, stable, non-interfering ownership who will pay some luxury tax to have a contender.  There is plenty of obviously bad ownership but even a seemingly future contender in the Bucks had their ownership unable to agree on who their GM should be. 

I wasn't particularly enamored by any of the players you mentioned but at least they were upside picks.  I just wish Danny had learned to be more daring in the draft a couple years earlier when he took Olynyk rather Giannis.

[SHAQATTACK]

i wanted Fultz .

As i watched Tatum in the tournaments ......i had this gut feeling he was going tombe the pick.  His play , body language , coolness ,  the whole package had Brad Stevens wrote all over him.  Humble , but a killer on the court.   

He ll be the perfect fit with Smart ......just add A. Davis .......game on

[csfansince60s]

I just wish Danny had learned to be more daring in the draft a couple years earlier when he took Olynyk rather Giannis.

I'm convinced that KO was a Stevens' pick.

KO fit CBS' system and prototype player.....a big who can shoot and handle the ball.

Giannis was an incredible athlete who couldn't shoot and was unpolished.

DA gets blamed on this all the time (and he is the GM, and I realize the buck stops with him), but the KO pick had "accommodate the new head coach" all over it. To me that was on Stevens.

Athleticism isn't high on CBS priority list of player attributes desired. Nor is rebounding nor shot blocking. He likes skilled, versatile players who can shoot.  In my opinion that's why we do not have the Greek freak and we had KO.

[Tr1boy]

i wanted Fultz .

As i watched Tatum in the tournaments ......i had this gut feeling he was going tombe the pick.  His play , body language , coolness ,  the whole package had Brad Stevens wrote all over him.  Humble , but a killer on the court.   

He ll be the perfect fit with Smart ......just add A. Davis .......game on

you will be happy the Celts didn't draft Fultz.... He is the Andrew Wiggins of pgs

[hwangjini_1]

i wanted Fultz .

As i watched Tatum in the tournaments ......i had this gut feeling he was going tombe the pick.  His play , body language , coolness ,  the whole package had Brad Stevens wrote all over him.  Humble , but a killer on the court.   

He ll be the perfect fit with Smart ......just add A. Davis .......game on

you will be happy the Celts didn't draft Fultz.... He is the Andrew Wiggins of pgs

tb, you raise an interesting comparison. would you provide more details on your reasoning for this? thanks.

[footey]

I just wish Danny had learned to be more daring in the draft a couple years earlier when he took Olynyk rather Giannis.

I'm convinced that KO was a Stevens' pick.

KO fit CBS' system and prototype player.....a big who can shoot and handle the ball.

Giannis was an incredible athlete who couldn't shoot and was unpolished.

DA gets blamed on this all the time (and he is the GM, and I realize the buck stops with him), but the KO pick had "accommodate the new head coach" all over it. To me that was on Stevens.

Athleticism isn't high on CBS priority list of player attributes desired. Nor is rebounding nor shot blocking. He likes skilled, versatile players who can shoot.  In my opinion that's why we do not have the Greek freak and we had KO.

Agree.

[GratefulCs]

i wanted Fultz .

As i watched Tatum in the tournaments ......i had this gut feeling he was going tombe the pick.  His play , body language , coolness ,  the whole package had Brad Stevens wrote all over him.  Humble , but a killer on the court.   

He ll be the perfect fit with Smart ......just add A. Davis .......game on

you will be happy the Celts didn't draft Fultz.... He is the Andrew Wiggins of pgs

tb, you raise an interesting comparison. would you provide more details on your reasoning for this? thanks.

i'm guessing he means he'll score in bunches while being a terrible defender

[Dino Pitino]

This news cements that it was a great trade for us.

[Casperian]

Well, now we know who to fire if it doesn't work out...

[clevelandceltic]

Im glad this was the case if this was indeed the case. Tatum was the clear #2 on my board.