Jayson Tatum's Agent Reacts to Magic Johnson Claim He Rejected Lakers Pre-Draft Workout

Could Tatum have been drafted by Los Angeles otherwise?

Dec 25, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) controls the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Taurean Prince (12) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Five-time Boston Celtics All-Star power forward Jayson Tatum has an inside track for MVP consideration this year while guiding the reigning champions to an impressive 21-5 season start, good for the league's second-best record behind only the 23-4 Cleveland Cavaliers.

Things have clearly worked out for the 6-foot-8 Duke product since then-Boston team president Danny Ainge traded down from the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft with the Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to select Tatum at No. 3 that year. The Sixers took Washington point guard Markelle Fultz with the top pick that year. At just 26, Fultz is now out of the league.

Tatum, meanwhile, is averaging 28.2 points on .453/.359/.802 shooting splits, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks per bout for one of the top title contenders in the NBA this year.

But it's the team that used the No. 2 pick in that same draft, the Los Angeles Lakers, that's the topic of this story. Then-Lakers team president Magic Johnson claimed recently that Tatum's agent, Jeff Wechsler, refused to let Los Angeles work him out prior to that year's draft, although Johnson conceded he had been leaning towards picking UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball for the ideal positional fit.

Read More: Magic Johnson Opens Up About Passing on Jayson Tatum in 2017 Draft

Wechsler explained what happened more fully during a conversation with SiriusXM's Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine on Tuesday.

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. "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. 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 [then-Lakers GM] Rob Pelinka called me and asked if they could work Jayson out, I said, 'Well, if you're not going to take him, why are you working him out?' And so I said, 'Get me on a call with Magic, and we'll talk about it.'"

Pelinka replaced Johnson as the club's president when the Hall of Fame point guard quit ahead of the 2019 NBA Draft. He rebuilt the team around superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and L.A. won its 17th title the next season.

"So he set that up a few days later," Wechsler said of Pelinka, noting that he informed Johnson during their call, "Magic, everyone knows you're taking Lonzo Ball."

Los Angeles did indeed draft Ball. And Pelinka traded him just two years later as part of a package deal for Davis.

"He goes, 'Yeah, well we're really heavy at [the] forward position, and we need to take a point guard, and so that's probably who we're going to take,' he says, 'but we'd like to take a look at everybody,'" Wechsler said. "And I'm like, 'Well, if you're not going to take my guy, he's been out there all summer, he's now in St. Louis, he's working out for other teams, I'm not going to fly him back across the country for a workout when you guys aren't going to take him.' And that's how it went down."

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