Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have now led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals twice in three years. The two Jay’s have been one of the best duos in the league for a while now, but they only ended up on the Celtics because of mistakes made by the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016 and 2017 NBA Drafts.
I thank god every day. pic.twitter.com/ozf6y2p1sU
— CelticsUnite (@CelticsUnite18) May 28, 2024
It is incredible just how much recent NBA history would have changed if these two drafts had turned out differently. In the 2016 NBA Draft, the 76ers had the first pick, while the Lakers had the second and the Celtics had the third.
The 76ers chose Ben Simmons with their pick while the Lakers went with Brandon Ingram. That meant Brown fell to the Celtics and with that, they had acquired one half of the duo.
Now, I won’t be too critical of those selections by the 76ers and the Lakers, because they seemed like pretty obvious ones at the time. Simmons was the clear-cut No. 1 pick that year and was drawing comparisons to LeBron James. Ingram, meanwhile, was widely regarded as the second-best player in that class. It just so happened, that neither of them lived up to expectations.
Simmons never developed his offensive game, but for a while, his defense made up for it. The Australian made three All-Star teams and also finished runner-up for DPOY in 2021, but his career has fallen apart now. Back injuries have turned Simmons into a shell of his former self and he has barely played over the last three years.
As for Ingram, he has turned into a pretty good player, but just not a great one. He has made an All-Star team and averages 19.4 points per game for his career, but isn’t really close to being the superstar that many thought he could be.
I think it’s fair to say Brown has become a better player than Ingram. The Celtics also deserve a lot of credit for selecting him with that third pick. At the time, neither he nor anyone else was viewed as the clear-cut third-best player.
The Brown selection was even questioned by some but he is now a three-time All-Star and an Eastern Conference Finals MVP. None of the seven players selected after him, meanwhile, have made an All-Star team, although Jamal Murray, who was the seventh pick, should at some point.
Stats comparison (Simmons, Ingram, Brown):
1. Ben Simmons – 14.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 7.4 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.7 BPG
2. Brandon Ingram – 19.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 5.7 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.6 BPG
3. Jaylen Brown – 18.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG
Next, we get to the 2017 NBA Draft, where it was the Celtics who initially had the first pick. The Lakers and the 76ers held the second and third picks, respectively. Then, just about a week before the draft, a blockbuster trade went down, as the 76ers and the Celtics swapped picks.
The 76ers were enamored with Markelle Fultz and chose him with the first pick. The Lakers then went with Lonzo Ball and the Celtics got whom they reportedly wanted all along, Tatum. Unlike the year before, I think you can be fairly critical of the 76ers and the Lakers for the decisions made here.
Fultz was regarded as the top prospect of that class but he was not held in the same regard as Simmons was. There were some concerns about his shooting motion too and the Celtics came to the right conclusion that Tatum was the better pick.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure how good Fultz could have been, as he suffered serious shoulder injuries. Due to them, he has never even come close to being an All-Star and has sadly gone down as a bust.
As for Lonzo, it’s a somewhat similar story. It was clear after his first couple of seasons that he was not going to be anywhere near as good a player as his father LaVar Ball was hyping him up to be.
Lonzo did, though, have the makings of a very good player, as he was a fairly good playmaker, defender, and shooter. Sadly, the injury bug struck him too and the last time we saw him on the court was back on Jan. 14, 2022. Ball has been dealing with a severe knee injury and it remains to be seen if he’ll ever be able to play again. He believes he will, but only time will tell.
Tatum, meanwhile, has stayed relatively healthy in his career. The 26-year-old is a five-time All-Star and has now made the All-NBA First team three years in a row. He is one of the best players in the league and passing on him is probably one of the biggest mistakes the Lakers have made in recent history.
Stats comparison (Fultz, Ball, Tatum):
1. Markelle Fultz – 11.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG,4.6 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.3 BPG
2. Lonzo Ball – 11.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 6.2 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.6 BPG
3. Jayson Tatum – 23.1 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.7 BPG
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