Jayson Tatum Drops Honest Quote About LeBron Joining Celtics After Jaylen Brown Trade in New Video

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum doesn't appear to think his team has a strong shot at signing LeBron James this summer.

Tatum was a guest Wednesday on Today to promote his new children's book. During the interview, he was asked whether he considered how James would look in a Celtics jersey.

"That hasn't crossed my mind," he said (6:01 mark).

Rich Paul, James' agent, told ESPN's Dave McMenamin earlier this month that 27 teams reached out to him about the 22-time All-Star. Through a reference to Tatum and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, Boston was also included on a whiteboard Paul spotlighted in an episode of his Game Over podcast to lay out some of LeBron's options:

Because James almost certainly isn't going to sign a max contract, franchises that don't have a lot of salary cap space remain in the hunt. The Celtics could offer him the $5.5 million bi-annual exception.

Setting the finances aside, Boston's hopes of getting the surefire Hall of Famer took a hit when it traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. Maybe the team is better off in the long run having shed Brown's contract, but it took a step backward in the short term.

The Sixers, meanwhile, were one of three teams along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat that have separated themselves in the LeBron sweepstakes, per ESPN's Shams Charania. Adding Brown to a lineup that already included Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe is intriguing.

To some degree, Tatum probably has thought about teaming up with James. Why not?

The 2024 NBA champion may sense, however, that the partnership won't come together, so it's not worth seriously entertaining.