Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Celtics selected Tatum with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. But he could have gone No. 1. Boston originally had the first pick and famously made a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers to move down to No. 3, where it knew it could still land its top choice. Celtics president Danny Ainge has openly spoken since about how the team would have taken Tatum first had it kept the pick.
“I joke with Danny all the time, he should’ve just took me No. 1,” Tatum said while guesting on The Bill Simmons Podcast at The Ringer. “I could’ve kept a few dollars of my paycheck. Tell (Ainge), ‘You owe me some money.'”
MassLive: Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum after Danny Ainge traded down in draft for him: ‘You owe me some money’
As Bill Simmons noted in the podcast, the Lakers were so fixated on Lonzo Ball that Boston knew Tatum would have been available. In fact, it was Ainge’s perceived willingness to take Markelle Fultz first that pushed Philadelphia into giving up the potential second overall pick in the 2019 draft to move up two spots.
This is what makes Ainge so good. It’s not necessarily that he pulls these moves off, it’s that he is patient enough to play the long game and see if he can get something more out of a situation.
The Boston Celtics certainly could have taken Tatum first overall. They could have been like the Lakers, laser focused into the guy they wanted, and just taken that guy.
Instead, they played Philly for a pick, even though it cost Jayson Tatum a few bucks (actually, over the course of his four-year rookie contract, going third instead of first is about a $6 million difference). I’m sure Ainge can make some of that up by lending Taco Jay his Chipotle black card.
Among the other things Tatum talked about was his love for Kobe Bryant…
“Like when I was like 4 or 5, I’d just always tell—my mom would ask me what I wanted to be when I got older. And I would just be like, ‘I wanna be Kobe,’ Tatum told Simmons. “She’d be like, “You wanna be in the NBA?” “No, like, I wanna be Kobe.” He was just my favorite player. I had his posters, all his jerseys. That was my guy.”
That Kobe love as a kid put Tatum on the wrong side of the NBA’s greatest rivalry, at least as far as Celtics fans are concerned.
“I used to hate Boston,” Tatum said.
“Yeah, well, we need to fix that,” Simmons told him.
Tatum replied, “No, I love Boston now.”
I know another childhood Lakers fan who hated Boston that became an OK Celtic….
Tatum also talked about his favorite play from last year, which is also when it really hit home that Brad Stevens is a After-Time-Out play calling genius.
According to Tatum, that entire play went exactly like Stevens said it would, and it got Horford the clutch basket.
One other note…
Best part of Jayson Tatum's appearance on Bill Simmons podcast:
BS: "So how old are you? Twenty?”
JT: “Twenty and a half.”
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) August 24, 2018
If you want to listen to the whole thing, here you go:
Page 2: Terry Rozier thinks Boston can be “truly special” this season
“We can be special. Truly special,” Rozier said Saturday during a break from his youth basketball camp in suburban Boston. “I think you know that. I think everybody knows that. Obviously, we [are] good on paper, we just gotta get it together and make sure everybody comes in and has that same mindset. But I feel like it’s going to be a special group.”
Rozier smiled wide when asked if, like teammate Jaylen Brown, he believed the Celtics will make the NBA Finals this season. Rozier wouldn’t bite and only repeated his assertion that the Celtics will be special, especially with Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward returning from injuries that forced them to miss Boston’s playoff run last season.
“We look good on paper. The same team back from last year adding two main guys, two main pieces, with a lot of the guys we added from this draft and re-signed,” Rozier said. “It’s special. It’s special. Like I said, I don’t want to talk too much about [what the team can accomplish], but it’s going to be special.”
ESPN Boston: Rozier: Celts can be ‘truly special’ in 2018-19
The biggest challenge Brad Stevens seems to have this season is figuring out how to get everyone who deserves minutes onto the floor. As I’ve said in the past, Stevens has never coached a team with such high expectations coming into a season. There are new challenges for him and the team.
What happens if they aren’t winning as much as people think they should?
What happens if guys start griping about their roles?
What happens if these guys start to believe their own hype and stop putting in the work?
Which player that’s been on the floor late in games suddenly gets benched in those situations?
That last question can be up for a hot debate because there are seven guys who can stake a claim to being on the floor depending on the situation: Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Aron Baynes.
Does Stevens sit the worst defender of that group, Kyrie, to insert Smart? Does he sit Tatum if he wants to go big with Baynes? How do those guys react? How does Smart react if Stevens doesn’t sit Kyrie, and it’s him that gets burned for a game-changing basket?
We always say having this much talent is a good problem to have, but it can still be a problem.
Rozier is right to not want to talk too much about it. All these players have done a great job so far of saying the right things… they all understand there is sacrifice involved on a team this good, they understand that nothing will be handed to them, and they seem to get that the process starts all over again every season.
He’s also right that this team can be special. If they can navigate those issues I laid out, we could be booking hotel rooms in Oakland in June.
The rest of the links:
BSJ: NBA Notebook: Who will be the next star on the move?
NBCSN: Will leadership of these Celtics be a team effort?
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