Jayson Tatum recently revealed he was enamored with the Phoenix Suns in 2017 before Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski convinced him to work out with the Boston Celtics.
Ex-Suns head coach Earl Watson insists the feeling was mutual -- and that Phoenix would have taken Tatum in the 2017 NBA Draft if team owner Robert Sarver hadn't overruled Watson.
"I was pushing Tatum,” Watson told The Athletic's Jay King. "Like, we had to move up for Tatum, we had to get Tatum. And ownership chose Josh Jackson.
" … I knew the two players were dynamically different, but my vision was what’s the best fit for Devin Booker. Booker and Tatum, I think a combination like that right now would have been completely different than anything in the NBA at that age."
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The Celtics landed Tatum with the No. 3 pick, while Phoenix chose Jackson at No. 4 -- apparently at the behest of Sarver, whom Watson says refused to trade up to No. 3 to draft Tatum.
Watson also noted that Jackson canceled his workout with Boston (part of the reason why the Celtics cooled on the Kansas product) but that Tatum nearly did, too, which perhaps would have allowed him to drop to Phoenix at No. 4.
Hindsight obviously is 20/20 -- Tatum has blossomed into an All-Star in Boston while the Suns traded Jackson to Memphis in 2019 after two underwhelming seasons -- but Watson insisted he knew Tatum's potential after seeing his pre-draft workout with Phoenix.
"I told (Tatum) it was limitless,” Watson tpld King. “I had no problem building through him and Booker and playing the type of basketball where everyone touches it and moves it and swings it around.”
Watson also told King he had "uncomfortable" conversations with Sarver about the Tatum vs. Jackson debate, at one point telling the Suns owner, "We need to f---ing get Tatum."
Boston Celtics
Instead, Tatum decided to attend that workout in Boston and came around on the Celtics despite some early trepidation about not getting enough playing time on a contender.
The rest is history, as Tatum altered the courses of two franchises by going one spot ahead of Jackson in the 2017 draft.