Video: Danny Ainge breaks down why he traded the #1 pick
Mark Allison already shared some of Danny Ainge's comments on the deal, but the Celtics just released the full conference call, so take a listen to hear directly from Ainge his rationale.
No surprise that Ainge says the guy they will get at #3 is the guy they would have taken at #1. Ainge always says that the guy they pick they had much higher. You can be the judge on how well Ainge's drafting history is. Basically with this trade Ainge is betting on Markelle Futz not being as good as the consensus of league personnel think he will be. Or Josh Jackson or Jayson Tatum being just as good.
If you weren't going to take Fultz #1, you obviously have to trade down. I hope Ainge ends up being right (and everyone else wrong), since Fultz sure seemed like as much of a future star as the previous point guards taken #1 in the lottery era (Iverson, Rose, Irving, Wall). Big gamble here on Danny's part. Hope it works out.
Video courtesy of the Boston Celtics.
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