The Boston Celtics have been actively pursuing a big star for quite a while.
Names of the likes of Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal, and Karl-Anthony Towns have been floated around for years, but nothing has happened.
That’s why Jayson Tatum reportedly wanted to take matters into his own hands and give his team a helping hand to land another star.
According to a report by Marc J. Spears, the young forward has reached out to Damian Lillard to try and get him to Boston, but to no avail (via Dru_Star and the Oregonian).
“I know that Boston…I know Jason Tatum’s called [Damian Lillard]. Tried to get in [Dame’s] ear. But his focus is definitely on Miami.” – @MarcJSpears via @Oregonian
Link: https://t.co/80NMhu2aB8 pic.twitter.com/XqjKTu5OiJ
— Dru (@dru_star) August 31, 2023
Apparently, Lillard is still adamant about playing in Miami.
This isn’t exactly a surprise, considering a report from Chris Haynes — who’s been quite close to Lillard for years — stated that Lillard would never consider playing for the Celtics.
Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) tells under what circumstances Dame would want to be traded from the #Blazers, which teams he’d ok a trade to, and which team specifically he wouldn’t pic.twitter.com/jlx8N14oOT
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 8, 2023
Perhaps the biggest story here is the fact that Tatum has actively tried to recruit Lillard despite knowing that any trade for him would have to involve Jaylen Brown, both for sports and financial reasons.
Brown just signed the largest contract extension in NBA history, and Tatum has never been anything but supportive of him.
But perhaps he’s taking another approach to his partnership with his fellow All-NBA teammate, knowing that this is just a part of the business and that Lillard would give the Celtics a better chance to win an NBA championship right now.
Brown has been involved in multiple trade rumors throughout his career in Boston, and one can only wonder if this report could take a toll on his chemistry with Tatum.
NEXT: Isaiah Thomas Implies Danny Ainge Prevented Him From Making Celtics History
