When Harry Giles was drafted 20th overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2017 NBA Draft, many considered it to be a steal. Despite being forced to sit out his first year due to injury, Giles remains to be a very promising prospect. Even Boston Celtics standout Jayson Tatum believes that Giles is going to be a force once he is finally able to make his NBA debut.
As a guest on the Bill Simmon's Podcast, Tatum shared how he considers Giles to be one of, if not the best player from the 2017 draft class.
“He was by far the best player in our grade,” claimed Tatum. “You can ask anybody in our class. Even in high school I thought, ‘yeah he might be better than me.'”
This is some very high praise coming from a guy who absolutely broke loose in his debut season last year. This admiration becomes even more remarkable considering how talent-packed last year's draft class was. Donovan Mitchell, Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball… the list goes on.
Although, it is worth noting the Tatum was speaking in the past tense here. The Celtics small forward said that Giles was the best player in their grade. It would be difficult to argue against this, given how Giles completely dominated while he was in high school.
A lot has happened since then. Giles suffered a horrendous knee injury even before making his college debut for Duke. Upon his return, he put up subpar numbers, which caused his stock to drop entering the draft. Giles has not been the same since his injury, but it appears that he has now fully recovered.
After a successful Summer League stint for the Kings, Giles is now looking to establish himself as a vital part of his team's young and promising core. Hopefully, we are all able to finally see the Harry Giles Tatum was raving about.
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