"Could you imagine if LeBron James had joined a Lakers squad with Jayson Tatum?" - Stephen A. Smith believes LA Lakers should have drafted Tatum over Lonzo Ball
The LA Lakers had a shot at drafting Jayson Tatum in 2017 but passed on him and chose Lonzo Ball. It was a decision that could come back to bite them.
On ESPN's "First Take," sports media personality Stephen A. Smith spoke about the pairing of Tatum with LeBron James that could have been. Smith said:
"Can we fantasize for a moment here? Could you imagine if LeBron James had joined a Lakers squad with Jayson Tatum? Could you imagine? I mean, I promise you this: We wouldn't be talking about Lakers being out of the playoffs. We wouldn't be talking about them struggling to make a play-in game. I promise you that."
Smith said the decision to go after Ball instead of Tatum by Magic Johnson is proving to be a costly one for the Lakers organization. Smith said:
"Even though Lonzo Ball is hurt, when he was playing, he was the No. 2 2 overall pick by Earvin Magic Johnson' Los Angeles Lakers. They needed a point guard, they needed somebody that was a local product and they got this brother from Chino Hills instead of Tatum.
"So, I think about Philly and I think about the Lakers. They had the No. 1 and No. 2 pick in those drafts, and they passed Jayson Tatum for Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball. We need to remember that when we talking about Jayson Tatum, because Jayson Tatum is a star. Jayson Tatum has superstar written all over him. This is a special, special brother."
Did the LA Lakers make a mistake by drafting Lonzo Ball instead of Jayson Tatum?
The 2017 NBA draft had a lot of superstar-caliber players like Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and others. However, the LA Lakers, with Magic Johnson running the show for Jeanie Buss, wanted to draft a point guard. So, they chose Lonzo Ball from UCLA with the No. 2 overall pick.
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Fast forward to 2022. The Lakers traded Ball along with Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 for Anthony Davis. They were justified immediately as the Lakers won the championship in the summer of 2020.
However, Tatum has exploded for the Boston Celtics and Mitchell (the No. 13 pick) is a superstar for the Utah Jazz. One could argue that the Lakers made a mistake by drafting Ball ahead of those two, especially when Lonzo isn't even on the roster.
Donovan Mitchell turned things around in the 2nd half, scoring 30 of his 32 points and leading the Jazz to a Game 1 win.
It was his 4th 30-point half in the playoffs, passing Allen Iverson for the most by any player over the last 25 postseasons. https://t.co/U4tYNr83QT
Make no mistake, Ball is a terrific player and has been performing at a high level for the Chicago Bulls this season. But Tatum and Mitchell are franchise players. Perhaps if the Lakers had one of those two instead of Ball, the Davis trade might never have occurred. And LeBron James and the franchise might have one more ring from last season and a shot at one this season.