Boston Celtics: Ranking the last 10 first-round draft picks by the Celtics

BOSTON - OCTOBER 5: Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge watches during an open practice at TD Garden in Boston on Oct. 5, 2019. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - OCTOBER 5: Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge watches during an open practice at TD Garden in Boston on Oct. 5, 2019. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

1. Jayson Tatum

The Boston Celtics selected Jayson Tatum third overall in the 2017 NBA Draft and he has proved to be the best player to come out of the draft that year. It’s worth mentioning that the Celtics actually held the first overall pick and was able to conduct a successful trade with the Philadelphia 76ers who owned the third overall pick in the draft.

Ainge had a strong feeling that the 76ers were not interested in drafting Tatum, which he was able to turn that into an opportunity to give his team an additional future first-round pick. Tatum, who was a young 19 year old when he was drafted, soon exploded to new heights since being in Boston.

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Due to the unfortunate and gruesome injury to Hayward, Tatum has been a starter since his rookie season. He helped lead the Celtics to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in which they lost to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s worth mentioning that Tatum put his name on the map from a huge one-handed slam dunk over LeBron that ended in a friendly chest-bump from the young rookie.

Tatum is having a career year and leading the Celtics in scoring with 23.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game this season. He also had a record-breaking month of February that ended with him scoring 30.7 points per game while shooting 49 percent from the field and 48 percent on his 3-point shot attempts.

He made the NBA All-Star team for the first time in his career this year and did find himself in the MVP conversation before the NBA hiatus this season. Out of the last 10 first-round draft picks, Tatum has proved to be the greatest one of them all. In fact, the argument could be made that Tatum is the most promising draft pick the franchise has had since the team drafted Pierce in 1998.

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