Back in the mid to late-2010s when the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves near the top of the draft, the scouting department and front office did an excellent job of identifying and drafting great talent. But one move that many have questioned Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ staff at the time about was the team selecting Lonzo Ball over Jayson Tatum in 2017.
While Ball has had a solid career that has been decimated due to injuries, Tatum has become a multi-time All-Star and All-NBA player who led the Boston Celtics to the 2024 NBA Championship. But Tatum was also a well-known Kobe Bryant and Lakers fan growing up and recently said he was ‘devastated’ that they didn’t work him out prior to the draft.
Well Johnson, who was Lakers’ president of basketball operations at the time, recently spoke on that in an appearance on Sirius XM NBA Radio. Magic said the Lakers did look at Tatum, but already had many young forwards on the roster, adding that Tatum’s agent didn’t want him to workout for L.A. for that same reason:
“I wanted to address something because I didn’t want us to go without addressing what Jayson Tatum said and I wanted to make sure I address it first on your show Eddie. When he said that he was upset that the Lakers didn’t, I think draft him or take a look at him, no we took a look at him, I was the President. 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 already had too many forwards. There were already problems because they all wanted to play and so if I took another forward, we would never see this Tatum if he had ended up with the Lakers. Because he would’ve been sitting on that bench because we already had Julius and Brandon Ingram starting.
“So I’m just happy that, we needed a point guard at that time and that’s why we took Lonzo Ball. 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. So 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 were already top-heavy with forwards and that’s why they wouldn’t workout for us. See I was there so I can tell Jayson what really happened. His agent didn’t want him to workout for us because he knew it wasn’t a good situation because we already had too many forwards.”
Magic is right in that the Lakers had two top-10 picks in the front court in Ingram and Randle, while Nance had also proven to be a very valuable role player off the bench. With the team already moving on from D’Angelo Russell that offseason, point guard was a clear and obvious need and Ball made complete sense coming off a collegiate season in which he was a unanimous First Team All-American.
The concerns about the locker room also would bear out as the team drafted Kyle Kuzma later on in the draft who unexpectedly became someone who needed playing time as well and trying to balance him, Nance and Randle in particular became very difficult. In Boston Tatum was immediately able to step in as a starter and ultimately develop into the star he is now.
Tatum may have been hurt by the Lakers not working him out and looking back now, he is clearly better than those taken ahead of him. But the Lakers had their reasons and for Tatum it undoubtedly worked out for the best.
Lakers expected to be ‘active buyers’ ahead of NBA Trade Deadline
Obviously Magic Johnson has moved on from his executive role with Rob Pelinka now running the Lakers front office and with the trade deadline fast approaching, many are seeing what moves he could make.
The latest report is that the Lakers are expected to be ‘active buyers’ going into this year’s deadline, but it would seem most likely that the team targets smaller moves for impact role players as opposed to looking to add another big name.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
