Danny Ainge addressed Jayson Tatum's comments earlier this week that the forward wanted to get drafted by the Phoenix Suns.

Tatum had to be convinced by Mike Krzyzewski to workout with the Celtics before the 2017 NBA Draft.

“There was a story that came out this week about Jayson going to Phoenix. Jayson was never gonna end up in Phoenix. Even if he didn’t come in for that second workout with us days before the draft in Boston, we were still going to take Jayson Tatum," Ainge told Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post.

Tatum said he didn't want to get drafted by the Celtics due to what he thought would be a lack of playing time. 

Ainge added that he had his eyes on Tatum the entire draft, even when he traded the top pick to the Sixers.

"We had our eyes set on Jayson Tatum. We were very confident that Philly was taking Markelle (Fultz) and that Lonzo (Ball) was going to L.A. We were very confident in that assessment.”

Leading up to the 2017 NBA Draft, Jayson Tatum wanted to be drafted by the Phoenix Suns.

Tatum knew Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball would be the first two picks, and he hoped he'd fall to the Suns at No. 4 after the Boston Celtics traded down from No. 1 to No. 3. Earl Watson was pushing for the Suns to do whatever was necessary to draft Tatum while Robert Sarver preferred Josh Jackson.

“Earl is my guy,” Tatum said. “I called my mom, I’m like, ‘Yo, I think I want to go to Phoenix.’”

Tatum's agent, Jeff Wechsler, called him about setting up a second workout with the Celtics. Tatum wasn't budging when Wechsler tried to sell him on Boston.

“We hang up,” Tatum said. “I’m like, ‘I’m not going to this workout. I’m cool.’”

It took Mike Krzyzewski to sell Tatum on Brad Stevens and the Celtics before he agreed to the workout. 

“When I finally heard my name called it was by far the best day of my life because it was what I’d been working for, for 16 years,” Tatum said. “But there was a part of me that didn’t really want to go to Boston because they just were the No. 1 team in the East. They had Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, (Marcus) Smart, (Jaylen Brown), Jae Crowder. I was like, man, I’m not going to play. I’m trying to get buckets. But everything worked out.”

“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.”