Unbreakable99 wrote:Yes Ainge lies but it was VERY obvious he did NOT want to draft Fultz. DID NOT. He wanted out of the top spot. If he had no takers he wasn't going to take Fultz. Fultz was going to be there at 3. I'm sure of it.
The only thing that was obvious was that unlike Hinkie, who kept taking centers because he thought they were the BPA's when Philly picked, Ainge did not want to add to the logjam at guard he already had. It is not remotely obvious that he did not think Fultz was a better overall prospect than Ball, Jackson or Tatum. It is also not remotely obvious that LA wouldn't have taken Fultz at #2 unless you just want to cherry pick the reports that you believe.
Since you are so sure of things, I'm equally sure that Ainge was NEVER going to keep the #1 pick and use it on someone other than Fultz. For example, if BC wasn't really budging, in the end Ainge may have settled on another #1 from Philly. He might have made a deal with Phoenix. He could have extracted something small perhaps from LA. Whatever the case, it would have been incredibly simple for him to move back at any point. If you think he was playing poker however, and would have taken Tatum at #1, I'm just as sure as you are that he wouldn't have.