Former coach Earl Watson pushed Suns to draft Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum revealed this week that he did not want the Boston Celtics to draft him three years ago. The former Duke star was instead hoping to land in Phoenix, and that’s where he would have ended up if former Suns coach Earl Watson had his way.

Watson, who was fired three games into the 2017-18 season, told Jay King of The Athletic on Monday that he desperately wanted the Suns to draft Tatum after he watched Tatum’s pre-draft workout with the team. Watson said he was in awe at the shooting display Tatum put on and felt he would have been the perfect complement to Devin Booker.

“He drilled 40 straight off the first shot,” Watson recalled. “Forty straight. So I immediately turned to the owner and the GM. And I said, ‘What else do we need to see?’ ”

The Suns had the No. 4 pick in the draft that year, while the Celtics picked third. Watson said he had some “uncomfortable” conversations about the draft with Suns owner Robert Sarver, who preferred Josh Jackson to Tatum. Watson said he emphatically told Sarver, “We need to f—ing get Tatum.”

Ownership was concerned that Tatum’s game was too similar to Booker’s, whereas Watson envisioned the two wings splitting time on and off the ball and thriving while doing it. Watson said he explained his vision to Tatum when he met with him a week before the draft, and Tatum bought in. 

Tatum confirmed that during his appearance this week on the “All the Smoke” podcast, saying he told his mom he wanted to play for Watson.

Watson wanted the Suns to trade up for Tatum, but it never happened.

“I was pushing Tatum,” Watson said. “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.”

Obviously, Tatum has settled in with the Celtics. He had reservations about playing in Boston initially, but has averaged 23.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this season and is the focal point of Brad Stevens’ offense. 

Watson, on the other hand, was fired by the Suns in extremely bizarre fashion. Had he gotten his way during the 2017 NBA Draft, things may have worked out differently.