A lot has been made of the Boston Celtics not being able to secure a pre-draft workout with Josh Jackson, but the former Kansas star insists he is not sending the team a message.
Jackson told reporters on Wednesday that he would ‘love’ to play for the Celtics.
Josh Jackson says he was open to coming to Cs for workout after they got No. 3, just didn't work logistically. "I'd love to play for Boston"
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 21, 2017
Jackson says he spoke to a few Celtics coaches over phone last week but has yet to speak to Ainge.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 21, 2017
Josh Jackson says he thinks he'd fit right in with the Celtics defensive pit bulls like Smart, Crowder, Bradley, Jaylen
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 21, 2017
ESPN’s Chad Ford reported earlier in the week that Jackson would not work out for the Celtics without assurances that they were keeping the No. 3 pick and planned to use it on him. Jackson told ESPN.com on Wednesday that he didn’t want to work out for the Celtics when they were picking first overall, but his mindset changed when they traded down. By that point, he says, it was too late to set something up.
“They did a little bit of moving around with their pick,” Jackson explained. “I felt like they made it pretty clear who they were going to draft with the No. 1 pick, so I didn’t really feel like it was worth either of our times for me to work out with them. But then when they, you know, did the flip and went to No. 3, by then it was too late.”
According to Danny Ainge, the Celtics are going to select the same player at No. 3 that they would have taken at No. 1. There have been reports that they are leaning toward drafting a player other than Jackson, but we won’t know for sure until Thursday night.
