Magic Johnson was president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers when they decided to pass on Jayson Tatum in the 2017 NBA Draft. It is a decision that’s been widely criticized over the years and Johnson explained his reasoning for passing on Tatum during an appearance on Sirius XM NBA Radio.
“We took a look at him, I was the president,” Johnson said. “But the problem was Eddie, we were top-heavy in forwards. I couldn’t take him because we had Brandon Ingram, who was only in his second year, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., so I had already too many forwards.
“Already, there was already problems because they all wanted to play,” Johnson continued. “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 and Brandon Ingram starting.
“We needed a point guard at that time and that’s why we took Lonzo Ball,” Johnson added. “We didn’t need the locker room to have any problems with another young forward. But, I’m happy, what’s happened for Jayson because he’s been amazing with the Celtics.”
The Lakers selected Julius Randle with the seventh pick in 2014 and Brandon Ingram with the second pick in 2016. Johnson felt they didn’t need to select another forward in Tatum with the second pick in 2017 and went with Lonzo Ball instead. While you might be able to understand the reasoning, the fact is he made a big mistake.
The Boston Celtics ended up drafting Tatum with the third pick and he has career averages of 23.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. He has made five All-Star teams to go with four All-NBA teams and has led the Celtics to a title as well.
Would Tatum have been this good had he been stuck behind Ingram and Randle? Well, it’s hard to say. We did, though, see him break through and establish himself as a starter on a loaded Celtics team and if you go by that logic, he should have been able to do that on the Lakers as well.
Ball, meanwhile, was looking like a good but not great player before his injury nightmare began in 2022. He has not come close to living up to the ridiculous hype that he came into the league with and there is no denying that selecting him with the second pick was a mistake.
As for why Johnson brought up this topic, it was because Tatum claimed the Lakers had no interest in drafting him in 2017 during an appearance on the Club 520 Podcast. He stated he never worked out for the team and that they didn’t come to watch him either. Johnson wanted to make it clear to Tatum that the reason he didn’t have a workout with them was because of his agent.
“I wanted to address that and let him know, yes, we looked at him,” Johnson said. “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, and that’s why they wouldn’t work out for us.
“See, I was there, so I can tell Jayson what really happened,” Johnson added. “His agent didn’t want him to work out for us, because he knew it wasn’t a good situation, ’cause we already had too many forwards.”
Tatum would have a right to be a bit upset with his agents Jeffrey Wechsler and Rishi Daulat if that’s the case. He grew up a Lakers fan and wanted to play for them but Johnson claims they played a big part in ensuring he wouldn’t end up with the team.
At the end of the day, though, Tatum did end up in a terrific situation with the Celtics. He might not have necessarily wanted to go to Boston, but it sure has worked out for him.
Tatum and the 21-5 Celtics will next be in action against the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden on Thursday at 7:30 PM ET. They won the first meeting between these teams this season 138-129 and another win is very much on the cards.
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