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NBA DRAFT 2017

June 22, 2017

Jarrett Allen

Brooklyn, New York

Q. Jarrett, if you could start with an opening statement about what you're going to bring to Brooklyn, please.
JARRETT ALLEN: Being drafted by Brooklyn, just going to bring a level of intensity. Try to leave my mark here and just try to bring everything I have.

Q. Did you work out or interview with Brooklyn?
JARRETT ALLEN: Yes, I ended up interviewing with them.

Q. How long ago?
JARRETT ALLEN: Actually yesterday.

Q. When you found out that Brook Lopez was traded, what thoughts came across your mind?
JARRETT ALLEN: I mean, that opens up another spot for me to go in and play.

Q. In this process you go and see so many teams, you met yesterday, you got drafted. How does that play out?
JARRETT ALLEN: I mean, yeah, it's interesting to me, but hey, I can't complain, I'm in the NBA now. It's been a dream.

Q. And you don't have to go real far tomorrow.
JARRETT ALLEN: Right, it's only like a 40-minute drive with traffic, so I don't mind.

Q. Describe to me the moment that you first fell in love with the game of basketball.
JARRETT ALLEN: You know, it was probably around sophomore year of high school. You know, that's when I decided I completely loved the game, and then just playing with my teammates is like -- probably just during a game. It was like, man, I really love playing this, I love being out here, and from that day forward, I put my full heart into it.

Q. Can you explain to me why you fell in love with it so late. Earlier did you not really know if you wanted to go professionally?
JARRETT ALLEN: No, I mean, it's always been a dream to go professionally. I feel it's the difference between loving it and liking something, but I liked basketball a lot, it's just I put love high on my list.

Q. How much are you looking forward to playing with young players like D'Angelo Russell, Sean Kilpatrick?
JARRETT ALLEN: I mean, I'm looking forward to it a lot. Having young players, I feel like it creates good chemistry. You don't have older players, everybody has the same goal of trying to become the best they can. So it's going to be good for me.

Q. What type of love, what type of skill set are you going to bring to this team?
JARRETT ALLEN: Mostly defensive, like blocking shots, guarding pick-and-rolls, just doing everything on that end. And then on the offensive game, I have a pretty basic skill set, just kind of back to the basket, trying to work on my face-up game and shot.

Q. Is there anything you think you need to improve?
JARRETT ALLEN: Well, definitely my strength, I need to bulk up to be able to play center in this league.

Q. At what age did you start playing basketball and why?
JARRETT ALLEN: You know, I started playing basketball probably when I was young. I don't remember how old I was exactly, but I played because my older brother plays it, and so like, wow, I wanted to be like him and play it. So I just started playing it, and then I got to here.

Q. What's something that you learned important off the court from Coach Smart?
JARRETT ALLEN: Off the court? You're going to have your down days. You can't let your down days define you. You're going to have to fight through that and just bring your best the next day.

Q. When you met with the Nets yesterday, did they discuss how they wanted high-character individuals and they were trying to build a culture?
JARRETT ALLEN: Yes, they said they wanted high-character individuals, people that are not going to bring toxicity to the team.

Q. What do you see yourself bringing to this offense or defense with Kenny Atkinson's system?
JARRETT ALLEN: I mean, honestly I'm not too familiar with the system, how they play, but just like bringing a level of intensity on both sides of the floor.

Q. Where do you think you are in your development? Do you feel like you're just scratching the surface? From 1 to 10, where do you feel you are as far as potential, thinking about yourself?
JARRETT ALLEN: Honestly, I'm not good at rating where I am like personally, but I think I have a lot more to go. I feel like my ceiling is actually really high.

Q. Yesterday I talked to you and your dad and he was obviously beaming. What's his reaction right now? I know he was really excited leading up to it.
JARRETT ALLEN: He was just really proud. He's always been really proud of me, but to see me finally picked, walk across that stage and shake his hand meant a lot to him. He couldn't stop smiling.

Q. Any advice?
JARRETT ALLEN: No, not yet. We're definitely going to talk about it tonight with my family.

Q. Are you excited about being here in Brooklyn, Manhattan?
JARRETT ALLEN: Yeah, I'm excited about being here. It's a busy city, busy life. I mean, personally I could do with a little more trees, but I'm happy to be here.

Q. A tree grows in Brooklyn.
JARRETT ALLEN: Right, but not as much as Texas.

Q. Did you see the Nets play last year at all?
JARRETT ALLEN: Every now and then, but honestly, not a lot.

Q. I've got to ask about the hair. Great 'fro. What's your motivation to grow it?
JARRETT ALLEN: I mean, it's really just been my thing. It's always been with me, so I'm really not big into hair styles, and it's the easiest one for me.

Q. Was it a tough decision for you to decide to leave Texas, and what went into that decision on your end?
JARRETT ALLEN: I mean, yeah, it was a tough decision to leave. We ended up being 11-22 over the year. I felt we were a lot better than that, honestly. For me I wanted to go back and prove that we're better than that record, we can do better than this, but it was just my time to leave personally.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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