I mean they never actually had a shot at Tatum The c's had the number one pick, wanted Tatum, and trade the 1 because they knew he'd be available at 3.
Yes, but "because they knew he'd be available at 3" wasn't an enforceable commitment. They could have taken him.
Consider if they just used common sense and taken Tatum and not signed Harris and Horford. They also picked Bridges just in front of SGA in 2018. World dominance was dangling there right in front of them, and they failed at every turn.
The point is it was never actually up to them. The moment the Celtics won the lottery that year they were in control. In order for Phili to get Tatum Ainge had to make a mistake, either by selecting Fultz #1, or by misreading phili's intentions and trading them #1. Given that Ainge almost never loses a trade I just don't think there's anyway he makes that trade if he doesn't 100% know he's getting his guy.
So I don't really blame Philli for Tatum at all, especially since at the time the overwhelming consensus had Fultz as the #1 guy. And as for SGA ten teams (actually eleven, because Charlotte traded him) passed on him, I mean sure he would have been great for them but second guessing draft picks is a crap shoot.
I think honestly the Tobias Harris trade overpay, compounded by the contract overpay, is a far more grievous mistake. They traded PHI-20 and MIA-21 firsts, Landry Shamet who they had just used a first (#26 in 2018) on along with Detroit 21 and 23 seconds (looking like those could be low 30's). That's arguably 4 first round picks of value. AND THEN they maxed him last off season and he is still owed 147 dollars over the next 4 years. That's a crippling set of moves right there, it should be a poll option.
That's probably followed by the Horford contract, if for no other reason then giving a 33 year old center a 4 year deal is a bad idea especially when you already have a center. I mean how much better would this team look if they just gave that money to Malcolm Brogdon?
These deals were questionable at the time, and unlike missing on a draft pick have locked them in money wise in a way that's gonna be almost impossible to recover from.