In 2017, the rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers had the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft for the third year in a row. They had their choice of a number of players who would go on to have lots of success, including Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell and Lauri Markkanen, all of whom have gone on to make the All-Star team at least once.
Instead, the Lakers fixated on Lonzo Ball, the homegrown University of California, Los Angeles point guard who proved to be mostly hype and little substance. He averaged 10 points and 6.4 assists a game while shooting 40.6% from the field in two seasons with the team, and since being sent away in the Anthony Davis trade in 2019, he has spent far more time on the sideline due to injury than on the court.
Tatum, who is recovering from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered in last season’s NBA playoffs, went on ESPN’s “First Take” recently and admitted that he was “hurt” by the Lakers’ decision not to draft him, especially since he grew up rooting for them and the late Kobe Bryant.
“Kobe was my favorite player, and the Lakers were my favorite team growing up,” Tatum said. “You get so close to accomplishing your dream, and you see the Lakers have the second pick. That hurt a little, feeling like there was no consideration they wanted to draft me.”
Instead, the Boston Celtics took Tatum one pick later at No. 3. He did end up winning a championship with them last year, but right now, after his injury and their major roster changes this summer, it’s hard to imagine him getting another ring.
Magic Johnson, who was the Lakers’ president of basketball operations in 2017, said several months ago that the team took Ball instead of Tatum because it was “top-heavy in forwards” and “needed a point guard at that time.”