Getty Brandon Boston, Clippers
There is a very talented young rookie who spent the bulk of Wednesday night lighting up the Staples—er, Crypto.com Arena—and the very odd part of that story is that he plays for the Clippers, not the Lakers.
The player is Brandon Boston, who was the No. 51 pick in the NBA draft last year, chosen by the Clippers with a pick they acquired from the Grizzlies. The Lakers did not have a second-round pick in the draft, but very easily could have bought one—much as, say, the Blazers did with the Pelicans, sending cash for the No. 43 pick.
And Boston is showing that the Lakers should have done just that. Certainly, the team knew everything there was to know about him. Boston, after all, was a Sierra Canyon High teammate of Bronny James, the son of star LeBron James. That link surely helped James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, sign Boston as a client.
Damn…. BJ Boston with a strong move on Marcus Smart for the layup.
Given the Lakers’ deep connection with Klutch—James and Anthony Davis are clients, as well as Talen Horton-Tucker and several former Lakers—it seems the team should have known that Boston just might be good.
How good? Boston scored 27 points on the Celtics on November 8, a week after having lit up the G League with a 46-performance for Agua Caliente. He has quietly been earning the trust of coach Ty Lue and, with that, a bigger role for the Clippers.
Lakers Could Use More Young Talent
Boston is the kind of young player the Lakers surely could use, either to juice up their aging team or to serve as trade bait. As it stands, the Lakers do not have much that they can offer teams on the trade market as they look for ways to improve the roster—Horton-Tucker is the only young asset L.A. has on hand.
Boston, though, has star potential and would have looked pretty good in the purple-and-gold. Lue, in fact, had firsthand knowledge of Boston only because he accompanied LeBron James to some of Bronny James’ high school games.
“I seen him play because I went to go watch Bronny play,” Lue said during the Las Vegas Summer League. “Bron’s a big fan—big LeBron is a big fan of Brandon. Happy to see him be on our team. He wanted to be with us and we’re just happy for him.”
Boston Holds Onto Memory of Teammate Killed in L.A. Crash
When he left high school, Boston was a Top 5 prospect before struggling for one season at Kentucky and falling out of the good graces of NBA scouts.
But Boston has always been a top-line talent. Against the Celtics, too, Boston had extra motivation. He was best friends with another ex-Wildcat, Terrence Clarke, the Massachusetts native who was killed in a car wreck in Los Angeles last spring, months before he had the chance to be selected in the NBA draft. Boston had his friend on his mind as he lit up the Celtics.
He was asked what Clarke might say after his 27-pointer on the Celtics.
“He’d call up screaming,” Boston said. “Excited, bright smile on his face. Just telling me, ‘I told you, I told you so. You’re the best in the world, just keep going.’ That’s the type of relationship we had, he always pushed me to be my best self. I always keep that in the back of my mind. I dedicated this game because he’s from Boston and he wanted to play for Boston,” Boston said. “I wanted to go out and play with that chip on my shoulder and his energy just carried me along the way.”