Ainge: Josh Jackson cancelled workout while Celtics were flying cross-country to him

[TommyPointGawd]

Let me ask you something: why do you think job interviews for high level positions are made? Because theoretically you already know someone's curriculum and body of work when interviewing...

Before you lead me down this rabbit hole, I stated that this is a talent draft. If you allow an agent to deter you from the best available prospects then you have failed. Honestly Danny would not do this. He probably favored one or the other very slightly.

That being said. my question was... right now you know for a fact that Draymond Green is a jerk or whatever you want to call him. Would you still pass on him for a higher character guy.

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[Revived]

Josh Jackson's agent canceled the workout. I believe his agent is BJ Armstrong. Armstrong and Ainge don't get along. Isn't Armstrong Javale McGee's agent too? I remember there was some type of beef when Ainge was trying to land McGee a few years ago.

This. Does any of you seriously think these 19 year old kids control anything?

Their agents tell them what to do, what to wear, what to say etc until their drafted. There was this article on HoopsHype about "life of an NBA agent" and it actually outlined this well.

BJ Armstrong is the one who cancelled the workout. I'll bet my brand new 3 series that Josh Jackson didn't even know the Celtics were flying in to watch him until way after his agent cancelled and all that.

Some of you should watch Ainge's video...he even clearly said that he doesn't have any bad feelings against Jackson because he knows agents control things before the draft and that agents have their own reasons. He even used Kriss Dunn and his agent last year as an example.

[ConstableGeneva]

Gerald Bourguet ✔ @GeraldBourguet
McDonough basically said he and Jackson's people formulated a plan -- "playing by the rules, I guess" -- in decision not to work out for BOS

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I'm telling you McDonough still has ill feelings towards Danny after that IT trade. Not sending PJ Tucker to us then this.

[threrf23]

What did Jackson tweet, out of interest?

That anybody can put up numbers and lose.

It was a shot at Fultz. I didn't mind it

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He said 'lol anybody with the slightest bit of talent can look good & lose' with some cocky emojis thrown in, then deleted it. I just didn't like the narcissistic tone of it, especially considering the guy he was laughing at. Wouldn't cause me to pass on him except in conjunction with other red flags...

[DK-All Day]

Gerald Bourguet ✔ @GeraldBourguet
McDonough basically said he and Jackson's people formulated a plan -- "playing by the rules, I guess" -- in decision not to work out for BOS

Read on Twitter

I'm telling you McDonough still has ill feelings towards Danny after that IT trade. Not sending PJ Tucker to us then this.

Who cares? He getting fired this year anyways.

[Novocaine]

I would never allow a player of mine to workout for Boston unless he was a big or in the bubble to be drafted. Not until Ainge explained to me what would the plan be and was persuasive enough. What is Tatum's position on Boston's depth draft right now? 6th wing? That basically means "spend the year rotting in the G-League".

if a guy is afraid of competition and just wants everything handed to him he can take a hike. not a celtic.

Perhaps it's not so much fear of competition but preference to play for a franchise with a clear direction and without 3 top 6 picks in their rookie deals fighting for minutes behind the starting wings.

[3D Chess]

Jackson sure seemed disappointed that he went to the Suns. Did his agent have him convinced the Lakers would pick him?? Was he high??

[Novocaine]

I would never allow a player of mine to workout for Boston unless he was a big or in the bubble to be drafted. Not until Ainge explained to me what would the plan be and was persuasive enough. What is Tatum's position on Boston's depth draft right now? 6th wing? That basically means "spend the year rotting in the G-League".

Yes he's the 6th wing behind
Crowder
Brown
Nobody
Nobody
Nobody

Good call.

Huh? What happened to Bradley? What happened to Smart? Is he going to play exclusive the backup PG? So he's going to get his minutes cut to the 14mpg that Thomas sits on the bench?

I said wing, not SF.

See it this way:

Last season, Gerald Green played 500 minutes and that was with Bradley missing 27 games and Crowder missing 10 and Rozier being out f the rotation for a while. Without that, perhaps he'd have got 200. How is Tatum going to get more minutes? Maybe Jaylen Brown will get his minutes cut? He'll go from 17mpg to maybe 13?

[Turgon]

Let me ask you something: why do you think job interviews for high level positions are made? Because theoretically you already know someone's curriculum and body of work when interviewing...

Before you lead me down this rabbit hole, I stated that this is a talent draft. If you allow an agent to deter you from the best available prospects then you have failed. Honestly Danny would not do this. He probably favored one or the other very slightly.

That being said. my question was... right now you know for a fact that Draymond Green is a jerk or whatever you want to call him. Would you still pass on him for a higher character guy.

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Sorry, you can't use that argument either. Draymond Green may be a jerk but he went to Golden State for a pre-draft workout. And I can guarantee you that Bob Myers wouldn't have picked him if he had flown to the east coast to interview him only to have the meeting cancelled at the last minute.

I don't care if it's his decision or his agent's. Ainge couldn't draft him after that or he loses authority and risks being seen as weak. And the Celtics would be seen as a joke and quite frankly I would be embarrassed. Fortunately we didn't draft Jackson and I say good riddance to him.

[TommyPointGawd]

Let me ask you something: why do you think job interviews for high level positions are made? Because theoretically you already know someone's curriculum and body of work when interviewing...

Before you lead me down this rabbit hole, I stated that this is a talent draft. If you allow an agent to deter you from the best available prospects then you have failed. Honestly Danny would not do this. He probably favored one or the other very slightly.

That being said. my question was... right now you know for a fact that Draymond Green is a jerk or whatever you want to call him. Would you still pass on him for a higher character guy.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Sorry, you can't use that argument either. Draymond Green may be a jerk but he went to Golden State for a pre-draft workout. And I can guarantee you that Bob Myers wouldn't have picked him if he had flown to the east coast to interview him only to have the meeting cancelled at the last minute.

I don't care if it's his decision or his agent's. Ainge couldn't draft him after that or he loses authority and risks being seen as weak. And the Celtics would be seen as a joke and quite frankly I would be embarrassed. Fortunately we didn't draft Jackson and I say good riddance to him.

It was reported Steph Curry refused to work out for Warriors in attempts to get to New York. I think that ended up ok.

It's not that I don't understand it. But you ignore the fact that it's not about getting the nicest most professional kid. It's ultimately about getting the best players. My only point is that IF Jackson winds up being a superstar. People won't be so rational and say "well he skipped a workout"


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[Parasite]

not only did he cancel mid-flight but Ainge refuted Jackson's story that he spoke to Brad Stevens and the coaching staff. Danny said that never happened. So in addition to lacking personal integrity Jackson is also a liar. Consider this though: the Celts were willing to fly across country right before the draft to see Jackson. Does that really sound like a team that was 100% sold on Tatum? If Tatum was truly their number 1 all along why did they try so hard to see Jackson? My take is that Jackson was their top guy and they pivoted to Tatum after it became clear ( on the airplane!!) that Jackson did not want to be a Celtic and was effing with them. Personally I think the Celts blew this draft; Fultz was the guy but Danny fell victim to the smartest man in the room syndrome and thought he knew better than everyone else. Fultz to me is clearly the best player in this draft and that pick we got from Philly is going to seem meaningless when Fultz is an all star in 2 years and Tatum is a good but not great player.

Unfortunately, I think you absolutely nailed it. I have no doubt Jackson was their top guy. He has ALL the things Danny covets in a player. And like you said, if Tatum was their clear cut number 1 they wouldn't have even made the flight to Sacramento.

I hope you are wrong about Fultz and Tatum though. Won't surprise me too much if you nail that one too though.

[AgentGreen]

So many overreactions.. i know they didnt treat Ainge and his staff right and i'm disgusted by that as well. But it's not Jackson who did this but it was his agent. Like all of you over here were that mature at that age, just stop it. He doesnt know how Bball business works and his agent took advantage.

The most logical reason is that Magic told Jackson to select him and after that they ditched Ainge. They were stupid enough to think that the Lakers will go for Jackson. You shouldve seen his face when he got selected by Phoenix and during the interview he looked very sad and emotional. His agent ruined it for him and filled his head with nonsense about Magic and LA.

They gambled on LAL and they lost. I hope he ditches Armstrong, he will ruin his career.

[alldayeveryday]

I come in peace since I was interested in understanding why JJ cancelled the workout:

Read on Twitter

[Jingles]

I would never allow a player of mine to workout for Boston unless he was a big or in the bubble to be drafted. Not until Ainge explained to me what would the plan be and was persuasive enough. What is Tatum's position on Boston's depth draft right now? 6th wing? That basically means "spend the year rotting in the G-League".

Yes he's the 6th wing behind
Crowder
Brown
Nobody
Nobody
Nobody

Good call.

Huh? What happened to Bradley? What happened to Smart? Is he going to play exclusive the backup PG? So he's going to get his minutes cut to the 14mpg that Thomas sits on the bench?

I said wing, not SF.

See it this way:

Last season, Gerald Green played 500 minutes and that was with Bradley missing 27 games and Crowder missing 10 and Rozier being out f the rotation for a while. Without that, perhaps he'd have got 200. How is Tatum going to get more minutes? Maybe Jaylen Brown will get his minutes cut? He'll go from 17mpg to maybe 13?

Crowder and/or Bradley are headed out the door. The 4 spot is wide open for small ball minutes. He'll start slow and work his way up the rotation. They aren't handing out minutes and allowing bad habits like Minnesota and others of that ilk.

[SmartWentCrazy]

I come in peace since I was interested in understanding why JJ cancelled the workout:

Read on Twitter

We didn't pick JJ because Tatum was #1 on our board, above Fultz. It's the reason we traded down in the first place.

Wasting two days of the guy who gave you your first job is a terrible look. McDonough better hope he's not fired this year, or he may be outta the league for a little bit. Terrible GMs that are disloyal to mentors don't last long in the league.

[TommyPointGawd]

I come in peace since I was interested in understanding why JJ cancelled the workout:

Read on Twitter

Pretty much all BJ Armstrong.

[AgentGreen]

I come in peace since I was interested in understanding why JJ cancelled the workout:

Read on Twitter

Jackson looks still uncomfortable, you can clearly see that BJ has been controlling everything. Poor kid.

[NapoleonII]

It's tough to completely judge him for this without knowing all the context...

In the same post lol.....

From a pre-draft scouting profile on Aaron Hernandez:

[BSA]

Low character individual is Jackson.

Not the kind of character we want in our organisation.

[Darthlukey]

Josh Jackson's agent canceled the workout. I believe his agent is BJ Armstrong. Armstrong and Ainge don't get along. Isn't Armstrong Javale McGee's agent too? I remember there was some type of beef when Ainge was trying to land McGee a few years ago.

Yeah Danny wanted a 2 year deal with a team option. Bj wanted a 2 year deal with a player option but the Celtics took on all the risk