‘He was one of the guys that made the decision to help make my dream come true.’

The Boston Celtics held the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. However, they traded it to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the third overall pick in the draft that year. Which they used to draft Jayson Tatum.

Former president of basketball operations for the Celtics, Danny Ainge, made the trade of a lifetime to acquire Tatum. I mean, he easily could’ve just drafted him first overall, also giving Tatum a little more of a payday on his rookie contract.

Ainge worked the deal to acquire future assets in addition to the 2017 third overall pick. He landed a future first round pick in 2019, which turned into Romeo Langford, drafted 14th overall that year.

Ainge is no longer with the Celtics. After 18 years as an executive for Boston, he’s now the CEO of basketball operations and alternate governor for the Utah Jazz.

Here’s what Tatum said about possibly seeing Ainge in Utah when the Celtics travel to play the Jazz on Saturday.

“To see Danny, hopefully. I will always have a great relationship. I’m very thankful for him. He essentially took a chance on a 19-year-old kid, drafted me, and made my dream come true. I’ll always be thankful for that, regardless of where’ve I’m at or wherever he’s at. I’ll always remember him in that way, he was the guy that made the decision to help make my dream come true.”

The Celtics take on the Jazz tonight at 9:00 PM at the Vivint Arena.

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Photo Credit: Charles Krupa, AP