The 2017 NBA Draft is one that people will look back on and think about what could have been. This draft will especially pain fans of the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers, as they were the two teams that passed up on selecting Duke forward, Jayson Tatum.
Tatum ended up going No. 3 to the Boston Celtics, as they made a trade with the 76ers, who ended up taking Markelle Fultz with the first overall pick to round out ‘The Process’. Imagine how differently ‘The Process’ would look had the 76ers added Tatum to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, not Fultz?
Going second overall to the Lakers was UCLA point guard, Lonzo Ball. While still a miss, it is easier to understand why Los Angeles went in the direction that they did, as they had selected a Duke forward the previous season in Brandon Ingram.
Donning the purple and gold is all Tatum ever dreamed of. He loved the Lakers, but the feeling was not reciprocated. He recently talked about it with Ramona Shelbourne and Elizabeth Merrill.
“The Lakers were my favorite team, and Kobe was my favorite player,” said Tatum. “So it was crazy that the Lakers had the second pick and I was so close to a dream come true. But it was just like they didn’t want anything to do with me at the time.”
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If the following years stayed the course, Tatum wouldn’t have been in Los Angeles too long, as Ingram, Ball and Josh Hart were part of the trade package to the New Orleans Pelicans to land Anthony Davis. Imagine a Pelicans team with Ingram, Tatum and Zion Williamson?
Instead, it was the Celtics who selected him at No. 3 despite him being the No. 1 player on their board the whole time. The Lakers didn’t even work Tatum out and Boston bet on the 76ers selecting Fultz, who everyone agreed was the No. 1 prospect.
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It worked out in the end, as the Celtics got their guy.
“After my workout (with Boston), I remember one of the (Celtics’) scouts came up to me and said, ‘That was a great workout. I’m excited for you. But we’ve got the No. 1 pick, so we’re not going to pick you,’” Tatum joked.
On the cusp of an NBA Championship, as Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics have a 2-1 lead over the Golden State Warriors, things are going well in Boston. What a blunder it has turned out to be for the 76ers and Lakers, as Tatum has developed into one of the superstars of the league, putting the Celtics back into the conversation as perennial contenders.
