Growing up as a die-hard Kobe Bryant fan, it was Jayson Tatum’s dream to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. But the LA side proceeded to select Lonzo Ball over him in the 2017 NBA Draft. Therefore, Tatum has always had a grudge about the Purple and Gold’s decision to snub him and he recently went public about his disappointment. Soon after that, Magic Johnson explained the Lakers’ reasoning for not picking JT and how Tatum’s agent also had a huge say in the process.
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The Lakers were a young team in 2017 filled with multiple forwards on the roster. It would’ve been difficult for Johnson, the President of Basketball Operations at the time, to provide Tatum adequate playing time with the likes of Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, and Larry Nance Jr. on the team.
“We were top-heavy in forwards. I couldn’t take him… And so if I took another forward, we would never see this Tatum if he had ended up with the Lakers because he would have been sitting on that bench because we already had Julius (Randle) and Brandon Ingram starting, right?” Johnson said on the SiriusXM NBA Radio.
The LA side drafting Ball made much more sense at the time for the simple logic that they required a point guard. Johnson stated that Tatum’s agent didn’t want him on the Lakers as well because of that same exact reason.
“I wanted to address that and let him know – yes, we looked at him, but his agent also didn’t want us to work him out because he didn’t want him to end up with the Lakers because we are already top-heavy with forwards,” Johnson concluded.
[Jayson Tatum’s] agent didn’t want him to work out for [the Lakers]…because we already had too many forwards
Magic Johnson, Lakers Pres. of Basketball Operations (Feb. 2017–Apr. 2019), tells @JumpShot8 and @TermineRadio why LA didn’t draft Jayson Tatum with the 2nd overall pick pic.twitter.com/SYQjOF3854
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) December 17, 2024
However, Magic believes that things turned out in favor of Tatum eventually because he wouldn’t be the player he is today if he spent so much time as a benchwarmer for the Lakers in his first few seasons.
Being from California, there was a lot of excitement around the Lakers drafting Zo as well. But his two-year stint with the team was rather underwhelming. He started most of the games but averaged merely 10 points and 6.4 assists per game before getting traded in the 2019 off-season.
Drafting Tatum would’ve perhaps led to a better result than no playoff appearances for two straight seasons.
Tatum recollected being devasted after being passed on by the Lakers
During an appearance on the Club 520 podcast that was aired two weeks into the 2024-2025 season, JT admitted being “devastated” after being overlooked by LAL in the 2017 draft. He was even more bummed out because the team didn’t even watch him work out during the pre-draft process.
“At the time, for me, I grew up a Kobe fan. I always wanted to play for the Lakers. For (the Lakers) to have the No. 2 pick, and it wasn’t even a thought that I was going to get drafted, that was kind of devastating. I never worked out for the Lakers. They never came to watch me work out,” Tatum revealed.
Sure, Tatum might have been a better pick for the Lakers than Lonzo Ball. However, in the long run, he likely wouldn’t have gained the multiple Conference Finals experience, substantial playing time, or the ball-dominant role he now has with the Celtics.
In hindsight, not being drafted by the Lakers was probably a blessing in disguise for the youngster.
