Ainge: Celtics never spoke to Jackson, were mad he canceled workout

The Boston Celtics were said to be deciding between a pair of swingmen with the third pick in Thursday's draft, and ultimately landed on Duke's Jayson Tatum.

The other possibility, Kansas product Josh Jackson, might've been given stronger consideration had anyone with the Celtics gotten an up-close look at him ahead of the draft. But Jackson canceled a scheduled workout with the team - just as president Danny Ainge, assistant general manager Mike Zarren, and head coach Brad Stevens were flying out to Sacramento to see him - leaving the front office both underinformed and a little bit spiteful.

"Never talked with Josh. No one in our organization did," Ainge told reporters after the draft.

"They cancelled a workout on us when we flew out to Sacramento, and they just decided to cancel it as we flew - just Brad and I and Mike Zarren flew cross-country. So there was something that he didn't want to play for the Celtics."

Ainge claimed the last-minute cancellation didn't entirely rule Jackson out for the Celtics, but it did seem to leave a bit of a bitter taste in their mouths.

"Well there were thoughts, yeah, I was mad," Ainge said. "Flew cross-country, you kidding me? I had to get up at 4 o'clock and fly back home.

"There's nothing to do in Sacramento."

Ainge isn't sure why Jackson's camp decided to scratch the workout at the 11th hour, or why he might've been averse to being drafted by the Celtics, but feels they got the player they wanted in Tatum.

"Agents and players have all sorts of motivations to get to certain places, as we've seen in the past," Ainge told ESPN's Chris Forsberg. "Remember last year, Kris Dunn didn't want to come here; we didn't hold it against him. We felt like we were just taking the player that we wanted (in Jaylen Brown). And I think the same thing this time. I don't think we were trying to penalize Josh too much, but we didn't get to see him or talk to him face to face."