Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson claimed recently that Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum did not work out for the storied organization before the 2017 NBA Draft because Tatum’s agent Jeffrey Wechsler didn’t want him to. Johnson worked as L.A.’s president of basketball operations at the time, and Los Angeles held the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
[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
Wechsler has since responded to Johnson’s comments, explaining that his client didn’t work out for Los Angeles due in large part to the fact that it was an open secret at that point that the Lakers were drafting point guard Lonzo Ball.
Jayson Tatum's agent, Jeff Wechsler, joined @TheFrankIsola and @Scalabrine today and responded to Magic Johnson's comments https://t.co/sfPZFVXMga pic.twitter.com/WgWzHHyuJb
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) December 17, 2024
“Magic’s correct in what he said, but the way it was presented was a little different,” Wechsler said. “I mean, everyone knows that the draft starts in June, and guys finish the end of March Madness, and they work out for months. Well, Jayson worked out in L.A. for months training with Drew Hanlen there, and the Lakers knew that he was in L.A. and never called. And in late June, they called and wanted to bring him in for a workout. But by that time, everyone knew that they were taking Lonzo Ball.
“So when Rob Pelinka called me and asked if they could work Jayson out, I said ‘Well, if you’re not gonna take him, why are you workin’ him out?’ And so I said, ‘Get me on a call with Magic, and we’ll talk about it.’ So he set that up a few days later.
“Get on the call with Magic, I think it was around June 13th, and I said, ‘Magic, everyone knows you’re takin’ Lonzo Ball.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, well we’re really heavy at forward position, and we need to take a point guard, and so that’s probably who we’re gonna take.’ He says, ‘But we’d like to look at everybody.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, if you’re not gonna take my guy — he’s been out there all summer. He’s now in St. Louis. He’s workin’ out for other teams. I’m not gonna fly him back across the country for a workout when you guys aren’t gonna take him.’ And that’s how it went down.”
If the Lakers could go back in time and try again with the No. 2 overall pick, they might select Tatum over Ball.
Ball’s time with the Lakers lasted just two seasons, as the team traded him to the New Orleans Pelicans before the start of the 2019-20 campaign as part of the deal that brought big man Anthony Davis to Los Angeles. Despite some flashes of brilliance, Ball’s stint in Los Angeles was marred by poor scoring efficiency and subpar injury luck.
He shot just 38.0 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from 3-point range across 99 total regular-season games played with Los Angeles.
But it’s worth noting that the Davis trade helped the Lakers win the 2020 NBA title, so the maybe franchise would think twice about going back and changing how everything unfolded.
Ball is having trouble staying on the court to this day, as he’s appeared in just 12 games with the Chicago Bulls so far in the 2024-25 regular season after he was sidelined for the entirety of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns. Fortunately, he’s been on the floor in recent weeks, and it’s wonderful that he’s been able to play at all this season after his career appeared to be in jeopardy.
Tatum, meanwhile, may be on a Hall of Fame trajectory. He’s just 26 years old, yet his resume includes five All-Star appearances (and likely a sixth in February), four All-NBA selections, one All-Star Game MVP award and one NBA title.
The former Duke University star was instrumental to the Celtics winning their 18th title in franchise history in 2024. He played in every one of Boston’s 19 playoff games and ranked tops on the team in points (25.0), rebounds (9.7) and assists (6.3) per game during that stretch of time.
Fast forward to current day, and he’s averaging 28.8 points per game this season for a Celtics squad with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
