Jayson Tatum has become one of the best players in the world this season. Tatum has taken his game to another level this year, and become an incredibly well-performing player. It isn’t just his offensive game that has gotten better, as Tatum has become one of the better defenders in the league. So much so, that Tatum has become a player being linked to several different teams, including one of the Celtics’ biggest rivals.
Many fans of the Los Angeles Lakers have been talking about Jayson Tatum and suggesting that he will play for the Lakers. They cite his admiration of and similar playing style to Kobe Bryant as reasons for him ending up in LA. But one NBA fan pointed out on Twitter that the Lakers actually had the chance to draft him in 2017, but passed on him in favor of Lonzo Ball, which allowed the Celtics to draft Tatum.
https://twitter.com/SpursUpNext/status/1516066342751051783
The Lakers famously drafted Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Magic Johnson, who was an executive for the Lakers at the time, heralded Ball as the future of the franchise and said that his jersey would be up in the rafters one day. Considering the legacy Magic Johnson had as a point guard for the Lakers, that was big praise for Ball. But Ball would end up being traded just 2 years later.
As for Jayson Tatum, he would go to the Celtics, who also acquired Kyrie Irving that very same offseason. The duo would end up leading the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals. But it was Tatum who was the star performer in the series against the Cavaliers, showing no fear against LeBron James and helping the Celtics push the Cavaliers to a Game 7. Since then, Tatum has become a multiple-time All-Star.
