{"id":112739,"date":"2024-12-17T14:54:26","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T19:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=112739"},"modified":"2024-12-17T14:54:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T19:54:26","slug":"magic-johnson-los-angeles-lakers-draft-jayson-tatum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/17\/magic-johnson-los-angeles-lakers-draft-jayson-tatum\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic Johnson Explains Why Lakers Did Not Draft Jayson Tatum"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2017, the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> selected guard Lonzo Ball<\/a> with the second overall pick in the draft. Outside of Markelle Fultz<\/a>, who went No. 1 overall to the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>, the Lakers had their pick of everybody in the draft. They opted to select Ball, who went to UCLA. This was no surprise to anybody. While Ball developed into a solid NBA player, his Lakers career was a bit underwhelming. The guard spent two seasons with the team before they traded him to the New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> for Anthony Davis<\/a> in 2019. All things considered, things worked out for the Lakers. However, many have wondered how different it would have been had the Lakers drafted somebody else–particularly Jayson Tatum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the time, Fultz and Ball were considered the consensus No. 1 and 2 choices in the draft. The next few picks, however, were a bigger mystery. Ultimately, the third overall pick was Tatum, who went to the Boston Celtics<\/a>. Tatum, who grew up a Kobe Bryant<\/a> fan and was open about wanting to become a Laker, has become a star in Boston. He is a five-time All-Star and a four-time All-NBA selection, and he led Boston to a championship earlier this year. It is interesting to consider how Tatum’s career would have fared if he ended up in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

In November, Tatum revealed on the Club 520 Podcast<\/a> that the Lakers never even brought him in for a workout. Recently, NBA legend and former Lakers exec Magic Johnson<\/a> shed some light on why this happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy, what\u2019s happened for Jayson \u2014 because he\u2019s been amazing with the Celtics \u2026 I wanted to address that and let him know, yes, we looked at him. But his agent also didn\u2019t want us to work him out, because he didn\u2019t want him to end up with the Lakers,\u201d Johnson said during an interview with SiriusXM. \u201cBecause we are already top-heavy with forwards, and that\u2019s why they wouldn\u2019t work out for us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cSee, I was there \u2014 so I can tell Jayson what really happened. His agent didn\u2019t want him to work out for us, because he knew it wasn\u2019t a good situation. After all, we already had too many forwards.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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[Jayson Tatum\u2019s] agent didn\u2019t want him to work out for [the Lakers]\u2026because we already had too many forwards<\/p>\n

Magic Johnson, Lakers Pres. of Basketball Operations (Feb. 2017\u2013Apr. 2019), tells @JumpShot8<\/a> and @TermineRadio<\/a> why LA didn\u2019t draft Jayson Tatum with the 2nd overall pick pic.twitter.com\/SYQjOF3854<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) December 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n