The Boston Celtics have selected Duke Blue Devils forward Jayson Tatum with the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. There were even reports over the course of the night that the Celtics were in talks with the Indiana Pacers about acquiring all-star forward Paul George, which would truly be a gamble considering George is entering the previous year of his deal and has expressed a desire to play in Los Angeles. Jackson averaged 18.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last season for the NCAA champion Tar Heels.
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.
Ojeleye played at Duke for two seasons before transferring to SMU.
Stevens was asked if Tatum was the player that the Celtics wanted at No. 1 and figured they could trade down to get. He finished with 1,343 points which puts him 16th on Miami's all-time scoring list.
After missing his first eight games at Duke with a foot injury, Tatum gradually improved as the season progressed and wound up on the all-rookie team as well as being named to the All-ACC third team.
Tatum didn't say anything interesting or controversial after "unofficially" becoming a Boston Celtic last night. The Celtics delegation arrived, were notified Jackson had to cancel the session, and jumped on a flight the next day back to Boston.
"LeBron James, he's the difference", the 19-year-old St. Louis native said.
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Phoenix Suns first round NBA basketball draft pick Josh Jackson holds his jersey, Friday, June 23, 2017, in Phoenix.
Tatum said he feels fortunate to be joining a contender immediately.
It was just this past week, with the Celtics wanting a look at Jackson before the draft, that C's president Danny Ainge and coach Brad Stevens boarded a plane from Boston to Sacramento. "I think if I become a bigger, or a stronger player physically, it will help me". The Celtics have been high on Tatum throughout the draft process, and had him in for a private workout late last week. Meanwhile, the biggest story of draft night was a steal of a trade pulled off by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who somehow convinced the Chicago Bulls to trade one of the most sought after stars in the game in forward Jimmy Butler, for guards Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine and the number seven pick, which the Bulls used to select 7-footer Lauri Markkanen from Arizona. "I'm excited to play for the greatest franchise in the National Basketball Association", he said.
Jackson's new teammate Marquese Chriss, who played with Jackson on a high-school travel team, expects these to be isolated incidents. "He's going to be a terrific player".
It will be very interesting to see what the National Basketball Association has to say about this, and whether the Celtics will raise issues with how things went down. You can't play poker by yourself, I guess you can on your computer but then you never win. Ball raised his family in the Los Angeles suburbs.
"I think we can learn a lot together and over the years, we can grow to be something really special", Jackson said.
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