Celtics, Jazz have never looked smarter for their 2017 NBA Draft decisions

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-jazz-never-looked-smarter-180114556.html




Celtics, Jazz have never looked smarter for their 2017 NBA Draft decisions



Darren Hartwell
NBC Sports Boston

February 26, 2020, 10:01 AM PST



Vivint Smart Home Arena is a fitting site for the Boston Celtics' matchup with the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

After all, the Celtics and Jazz got to where they are by being the two smartest teams at the 2017 NBA Draft.

The Celtics entered with the No. 1 overall pick and the chance to draft Washington star Markelle Fultz. Instead, they moved down two slots, acquired a future first-round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers and got their guy anyway in Jayson Tatum.

Ten picks later, the Jazz swung a trade with the Denver Nuggets to land No. 13 overall pick Donovan Mitchell.

Guess which players  have scored the most career points of anyone in the 2017 draft class? That'd be Mitchell (22.7 career average) and Tatum (16.9 career average).

Mitchell made the quicker ascent: He averaged 20.5 points per game as a rookie to land on the NBA All-Rookie First Team and is currently averaging 24.4 points per game, the most by a Jazz player since Hall of Famer Karl Malone in 1999-00.

Tatum appears to have the higher ceiling, however: He's two years younger than the 23-year-old Mitchell and is putting up ridiculous numbers this month in addition to blossoming into a strong defender.


SportsCenter

@SportsCenter
Jayson Tatum has been on a tear this February

∙ 30.3 PPG
∙ 7.2 RPG
∙ 50% FG
∙ 49.5% 3-pt FG



6:48 AM - Feb 26, 2020


But the best way to quantify Boston and Utah's success in the 2017 Draft is to look at who they didn't select.

Here's a recap of the first 15 picks:

1. Markelle Fultz, Philadelphia 76ers
2. Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers
3. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
4. Josh Jackson, Phoenix Suns
5. De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
6. Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic
7. Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls
8. Frank Ntilikina, New York Knicks
9. Dennis Smith Jr., Dallas Mavericks
10. Zach Collins, Portland Trail Blazers
11. Malik Monk, Charlotte Hornets
12. Luke Kennard, Detroit Pistons
13. Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz
14. Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
15. Justin Jackson, Sacramento Kings

The players in bold are All-Stars, as Tatum, Mitchell and Adebayo are the only three players from the 2017 draft class to crack an All-Star roster.

The two picks ahead of Tatum? Fultz played in 33 total games over his first two seasons in Philly before he was shipped off to Orlando, while Ball missed a combined 65 games over his first two campaigns before the Lakers dealt him to the Pelicans.

The pick behind Tatum? Jackson got traded to the Grizzlies after two disgruntled years in Phoenix and actually got assigned to Memphis' G-League team earlier this season.

Fox has been brilliant for Sacramento, while Isaac and Markkanen boast upside if they can stay healthy.

But Tatum and Mitchell have outplayed them all.

And when the two All-Stars meet Wednesday night, it will be further validation that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey knew exactly what they were doing in Brooklyn in June 2017.



bob
MY NOTE:  To be fair to Utah it's a lot easier to hit gold with the #3 pick than with #14.  On the other hand I believe Bam Adebayo is an All-Star ONLY because the Miami Heat are a good team and they didn't have ANY All-Stars until Bam and Jimmy were added, and that's why Jaylen was passed over for our 3rd All-Star.  Bam is not All-Star worthy, in my opinion, and Jimmy Butler is a low-efficiency player who gets his numbers because he is high-volume.

I think the genius of Danny Ainge wasn't in picking Jayson Tatum, it was recognizing that Fultz was overrated and conning Philly into trading up to get him.  As a result we got the pick of the draft (special mention to Donovan Mitchell, who is a great offensive player too, but not as good defensively) and Romeo.  Romeo Langford was the player Danny took with the Sacramento pick that came with the Fultz trade.  Jayson and Romeo for Fultz?  Not quite Robert Parish and Kevin McHale for Joe Barry Carroll and the immortal Ricky Brown (Red traded down from the #1 spot to #3 too, and threw in a #13 pick) but still and epic steal by Trader Danny.


.

Jayson Tatum was the big prize in that draft and the trade down that got him was a coup of major proportions.  To add insult to injury two of our historical rivals blew it.

Not to take anything away from Mitchell but I am reminded that he came in as Hayward was walking out the door which left a huge vacancy for a guy that could score.  Mitchell led the Jazz in FGA at 17.2 his rookie year.  Meanwhile Tatum joined a team loaded with talent.  He only took 10.4 FGA per game.  Thus when you look at points scored Jayson had a lot fewer opportunities to reach the 20+ scoring per game level.

At this point Romeo is something less less than icing on the cake.  He has had injuries and he joined a team already deep at his position.  His defense has been pretty damn good.  His shot still looks broken so he has a lot of work to do to become a reliable shooter and a worthy lottery pick selection.