The Boston Celtics used the third overall pick in the NBA Draft Thursday night on former Duke star Jayson Tatum, and it sounds like their decision was made simple by the refusal of another player to meet with them.
Just before the draft began, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge revealed that Kansas swingman Josh Jackson canceled his workout with the team while Ainge and others were in mid-air flying to Sacramento to meet him.
“I never talked with Josh. No one in our organization did,” Ainge said, via Nicholas Goss of NESN.com. “They canceled a workout on us when we flew out to Sacramento, and they just decided to cancel it as we flew.
“There was something, that he didn’t want to play for the Celtics. In spite of that, we’ve watched Josh for two years, and we’re fans (of him). He’s a terrific kid and a good player.”
Ainge compared the situation to when Kris Dunn didn’t want to work out for Boston a year ago, and he said the Celtics still considered Jackson at No. 3 and tried not to “penalize” him. Still, Ainge made it clear the last-minute cancellation bothered him.
“I was mad,” he said. “Flew across country, are you kidding me? I had to get up at 4 o’clock and fly back home. There’s nothing to do in Sacramento.”
Jackson is from California, so perhaps he wanted to be drafted by the Phoenix Suns at No. 4 to be closer to home. Either way, the comments he made about the Celtics earlier in the week don’t really match his actions.
