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NBA DRAFTJune 21, 2018Grayson AllenBrooklyn, New York GRAYSON ALLEN: I'm so excited. I'm so happy. I was contemplating with my family whether to come here or not, and I'm very happy I made the decision to be here for this. I'm excited to be in Utah, excited to be with Donovan (Mitchell), who I had some battles with in college. I'm just looking forward to it. I couldn't be happier. Utah is a great spot. Q. Did you get the impression after your workouts that they were really taking a serious look at you? GRAYSON ALLEN: I did. I got good feedback from them. They had the Duke connection with Coach Snyder and Coach K. Coach K heard good feedback, too. My agent heard good feedback. So I knew it could be serious. I knew my name was in serious consideration. But come draft night, everything is just up in the air, so you really have no idea. I didn't have many expectations for the night, so I was surprised and happy. Q. I've seen you go everywhere from the most loved to the most hated. How much has all that prepared you for this moment? GRAYSON ALLEN: I think I got thick skin now. I'm a lot tougher mentally. I don't care if it's boos or cheers in the stands or in opposing stands. I think it's gotten me a lot more focused on the game and the love of the game and loving to play the game instead of all the outside external noise, cheers or boos, praise or criticism kind of things. I think my four years at Duke have been nothing but growth. Just a lot of growth on and off the court. Q. Tell me about playing against Donovan and how you feel now about playing with him? GRAYSON ALLEN: Yeah, we had some great battles. It's funny, the scouting report on him from freshman to sophomore year changed so much because he improved his game incredibly. He expanded everything. He's a competitor, so we matched up a lot. I wanted to guard him, he wanted to guard me. I got to look back and see what the Duke-Louisville series was. I don't know if we split or he got me or I got him. I'm really excited to be playing with him. Obviously, he had a really successful year. Just looking to build on that and build on the success that the team already has. They're going in the right direction. Q. Not a lot of guys get to walk off the draft stage and see their team's leading scorer waiting for them with a big hug. Can you talk about what it meant to have Donovan here to welcome you into the Jazz family? GRAYSON ALLEN: It's awesome to get his support, because I obviously haven't met many guys on the Utah Jazz. When their leading scorer and really the guy who had the ball in his hands the most from last year comes and congratulates you and welcomes you right when you put the hat on, it feels good. I already feel welcomed in Utah. I'm really excited to get to work there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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