Under their new management team of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka, the Los Angeles Lakers are making strong moves to bring the team back among the NBA's elite.

After freeing up salary and drafting a potential All-Star point guard in Lonzo Ball, the Lakers are in position to make a splash within a strong 2018 free agent class. However, they still have this current summer to add potential pieces, and rumors are certainly brewing around building depth at guard.

With that in mind, let us delve into the latest buzz with Los Angeles.          

Jamal Crawford Moving Across Town?

After five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Jamal Crawford was moved in a three-team trade Tuesday to the Atlanta Hawks. However, Crawford's final destination looks to be unknown.

ESPN's Marc J. Spears reported shortly after the trade that Crawford's preferred destination is with Ball and the Lakers, assuming he could work out a buyout agreement with Atlanta. It makes sense, being that Crawford had lived in the Los Angeles area for the past few years, he is from the West Coast in Seattle and he could help mentor a young Lakers backcourt.

It now appears that the natural attraction and match between two parties will not materialize, per Spears:

Los Angeles obviously appreciated Crawford's game given its reported "strong interest" in bringing on Crawford. Although he is 37 years old, Crawford was still an excellent volume scorer off of the bench, putting up 15.3 points per game during his time with the Clippers and 12.3 points a night last year.

Although Crawford played almost four less minutes per game, his numbers did not dip from last season, which leaves it undetermined if age taking its toll. Crawford's points fell from 14.2, but his field goal percentage rose from 40.4 percent to 41.3 percent, while his three-point rate increased from 34 percent to 36 percent.

Crawford also would have fit in well as a veteran presence on a developing team, so the issue for the sudden change in interest may have been money-related.

With moving Timofey Mozgov's brutal contract and taking on the last year of Brook Lopez's deal at $22.6 million, the Lakers are clearly focusing on maintaining plenty of cap space to make a run at potential free agents like Paul George and Russell Westbrook next summer. Crawford was set to make $14.2 million this season.

Given his age, Los Angeles could not have wanted to commit more than one year to Crawford unless he committed to taking far less salary. If this was the case, passing on Crawford would be a smart move for the Lakers. Instead of taking on risky contracts for older players, building a strong youthful foundation to attract a massive supplemental piece next summer is a better long-term approach.

Los Angeles to Add More Youth?

The Lakers may have come across a gem towards the end of last season, and it now appears they could add him into the fold for their youth movement.

Tyler Ennis has bounced around to four different teams since being taken No. 18 overall in the 2014 NBA draft. The former Syracuse star only appeared in 132 games with 10 starts over the last five seasons, but he may have found his stride after joining the Lakers.

In 22 games to end the season with Los Angeles last year, Ennis made two starts while looking like a quality NBA backup at point guard. He posted career bests in minutes, 17.8, points, 7.7, and assists per game, 2.4, with the Lakers compared to his previous three stops. He also shot the ball well with a 45.1 field goal percentage along with a 38.9 percent three-point rate.

Due to his stout finish, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (via the Orange County Register) reported the Lakers have expressed interest in bringing back Ennis.

Ennis received the most consistent court time of his career with Los Angeles, and he certainly expressed an interest in coming back at the end of last season, per Serena Winters of Lakers Nation.

"Outside of Milwaukee, where I think I was able to play up and down minutes, honestly this was the first time I was able to come into a team and get a fair shot, get a fair opportunity. Outside of all the politics and everything else that goes on in the NBA, I think this was the one stop where I could say they gave me a chance and they believed in me, so I think that’s something that obviously I want to continue and hopefully I’m here to continue that next year."

His passing skills fit well into head coach Luke Walton's space-focused system, but if Ennis can prove his shooting success last season was not a fluke, then he may have a future with the Lakers. He shot well above his career field goal percentage of 41.9 percent last year, so the jury is still out.

Still, Ennis will cost very little. With Los Angeles seemingly looking to the 2018-19 season to become competitive, the team would be wise to bring back Ennis and see if he can become a long-term option behind Ball.  

Lakers Looking at Other Veteran Guard

It seems the Lakers are not done exploring their guard options, as they are apparently looking at another veteran to replace the likes of Lou Williams and Nick Young from last season.

After two rather poor seasons to finish out his stint with the Indiana Pacers, Rodney Stuckey is on the open market this summer.

Per Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype, Los Angeles is interested in Stuckey's services:

On Friday, Medina repeated this sentiment, but he described the inquiry as "very preliminary." Given Stuckey's apparent decline over the last two years, it makes sense that the Lakers are not pushing hard for the 31-year-old as this moment.

After breaking through with 13.4 points and 3.9 assists per game in seven seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Stuckey still looked like a strong player in his first year with Indiana. Yet he steeply fell off after a 12.6 points and 3.1 assists campaign. In the last two seasons, Stuckey played just 97 games, with one start, to go with less than nine points per game in each season. He also averaged a career-low 17.8 minutes last year.

Especially with a younger, more promising player at this stage of their careers still available in Ennis, it makes sense for Los Angeles to keep Stuckey as Plan B in free agency. The positive is that Stuckey would command a low salary after making $7 million a year ago. This would allow the Lakers to keep their bountiful cap space even with Stuckey possibly snagging a two-year deal.

Statistics are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com. Salary information is courtesy of Spotrac.com.

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Lonzo Ball doesn't need to talk a lot to know he's funny.

He doesn't need to score to know he's playing great basketball.

He doesn't need to escape the influence of attention-seeking father LaVar, because Lonzo loves being part of the best team he has ever had: his family.

That is what Lonzo Ball is all about: team and family.

Never about himself.

That might seem different in a league full of guys taking over games and making sure everyone knows it.

But it's the reason Ball is the perfect symbol for the Los Angeles Lakers' post-Kobe Bryant era.

The Lakers now have a front office guided by the ultimate team player, Magic Johnson, with a spirit of collaboration pervading an office where former general manager Mitch Kupchak's door was always closed and co-owner Jim Buss was never around. And they have coach Luke Walton teaching a share-everything style of play and preaching that doing good deeds is not about getting credit.

The days where Kobe dominated, and the team celebrated him for it, are done—in more ways than one.

"That identity will be defined as the team develops, but clearly the way Lonzo plays will set the tone," Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka told Bleacher Report late Thursday night after Ball was drafted. "And it really meshes so naturally well with the way Luke's vision for the team is, which is open floor, ball movement, versatility, length."

Where once Bryant was their divine scorer, the Lakers believe Ball can be their divine passer. It makes it appropriate they wound up with him at the No. 2 overall pick instead of polished scorer Markelle Fultz at No. 1.

"We didn't look at ball-stoppers," Pelinka said about a Lakers draft that netted four promising shooters in Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Thomas Bryant.

The theme for Magic's Lakers is collective excellence, even as Pelinka remains well aware of the power of the superstar from his days as an agent for the likes of Bryant and James Harden.

Pelinka has declared his intention to bring "hopefully two max-salary players to our franchise" next summer via free agency. But even there, atop the Lakers' list are two guys who fit this team-first build: Paul George and LeBron James.

George grew up idolizing Bryant, yes, but he did so while betraying his Lakers-loving family and rooting for the young, hip-hop Clippers because they had a group of guys who loved playing together. James, meanwhile, is a basketball icon who is much more Magic than Kobe in playing style.

That vision of togetherness the new Lakers regime envisions for the future is a big reason why Ball is a centerpiece and D'Angelo Russell is already out of the picture.

It was Russell's bravado the Lakers fell for in 2015, drafting him in hopes of reliving the Kobe era with another edgy alpha male. In just two years, however, everything has changed about what the Lakers want to be since everyone used to be compared to, asked about or overshadowed by Bryant.

Now here's Ball, whose favorite Laker of all time is, by far, Magic, even if he did grow up watching Kobe.

Ball met Bryant once a few months ago, but when you ask Ball about it, he's unmoved by the interaction. Bryant asked Ball if he had a post-up game; Ball said he did.

But individual post-ups are not what Ball wants.

"Try to be a good teammate and a better point guard," Ball summarized in his typically brief way.

The cool confidence is there; it's just not self-aggrandizing the way it runs like ice through Russell's veins. Perhaps it's because he's the oldest of the three Ball brothers, or perhaps it's because there's no room for an epic ego next to his father, but Ball looks like a grownup at 19—and he is proud of it.

The Lakers' decisions to draft Kuzma, a three-year college player at Utah, and Hart, a four-year player who won a national title at Villanova, were linked to that same spirit. Kuzma and Hart impressed Lakers officials with their maturity in interviews wherein they articulately conveyed values about hard work and winning. They also fit the positionless, multifaceted style of play that Pelinka called his "guiding principle" in building the Lakers roster.

Ultimately it will be basketball performance that brings the Lakers another championship, but we now see the path this front office is taking will be wide. There will be room for many contributors to lock arms as long as they want to help each other.

That's the sentiment Johnson and Pelinka found when they visited the Ball home for their second predraft meeting with Lonzo, observing how he interacted with his brothers and his parents.

Even though Ball was the Lakers' likely guy all along, Pelinka said, "The time with his family was really one of the keys to help us crystallize our decision."

What Johnson and Pelinka saw was real—nothing big or branded. It included LaVar caring for his wife, Tina, who is recovering from a stroke, and LaVar coaching up the neighborhood kids.

It was, for the record, LaVar who made sure Lonzo had Magic as the template for his game. It was LaVar who in this era of travel teams and AAU ball trained Lonzo to make the most of his teammates by placing him on talent-poor rosters and challenging him to find a way to win.

In so many ways, it was LaVar who positioned Lonzo to be the team player the Lakers love now.

"When he's on the floor," Walton said, "all four guys out there with him become better instantly."

Walton also was quick to note, "What's incredible, according to Zo, is that the dad has been great, has always been there for him, is supportive, loves him…and that's what you want [to hear] as a father."

This is Lonzo Ball's story now, and it's as simple as team and family—because when sports is at its best, one is a lot like the other.

Hearing Ball so matter of factly and sincerely state how he wants to make Brandon Ingram better—"I feel he's going to be a superstar in this league"—felt surprisingly warm despite its simplicity.

That's because it was distinctly different than anything Russell ever said about Ingram…or anything Bryant ever said about Russell.

It is Ball's natural way, and it is why one NBA scout summed him up this way: "Transcendent passing ability. Natural-born leader."

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.

LOS ANGELES — What the bold new Los Angeles Lakers era of team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka boils down to is this: They believe they can deliver new superstars that others before them could not.

It's now up to Johnson and Pelinka to lock in Paul George and have a superstar friend to put alongside him a year from now in free agency, ideally LeBron James or Russell Westbrook.

By trading D'Angelo Russell's potential and Timofey Mozgov's dreadful contract to the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 27 pick in the draft and Brook Lopez's expiring contract, as The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday, Johnson and Pelinka bet on their ability to turn cap space into championship talent. Former executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss and former general manager Mitch Kupchak assumed they could as well.

This is the new (but old) Plan A.

However, George's reported desire to end up in L.A. gives the Lakers a sure thing that Buss and Kupchak never had. George's proclamation to the Pacers front office, which ensured the Lakers won't be forced to trade much to get him, was one domino. Giving up on Russell just to unload Mozgov is another, as the Lakers can now fairly easily clear enough cap space to sign both George and another max player next summer.

While Johnson sets the ultimate course, Pelinka will detail Plans B, C, D, all the way to Z. Maybe the Lakers trade for George. Maybe the Nos. 27 and 28 overall picks they hold Thursday don't get moved and must turn into cheap long-term labor next to superstars. Maybe they sign DeMarcus Cousins.

There are tons of maybes, but there must be in rebuilds that always take luck, too.

A core problem sabotaging the previous regime—perhaps the biggest structural flaw—was that Buss and Kupchak were never cut out to be builders. They were used to Lakers glory unfolding consistently and easily. Neither had the magnetism or verve to hustle and make something out of nothing.

Jerry Buss knew their limitations, but he hoped his son and longtime soldier Kupchak would avoid a rebuild with the addition of Dwight Howard for Kobe Bryant's final stretch. The plan was to set Jim up for an easy few years of glory and an early retirement.

With Howard now a bitter memory and Jim dismissed (along with Kupchak) by his sister Jeanie, the Lakers are back to where they were before in a sense: believing stars will flock to the bright lights of Tinseltown. 

This time, however, the team hopes to tap into the strengths of its new front office to deliver those stars.

For one, Pelinka knows agents. Don’t fail to notice the collateral result of this setting Russell up for a grand opportunity on another big stage to make his name with the Nets; Russell’s agent is Aaron Mintz, who also represents George. Russell is now Brooklyn’s one and only marquee young player—and gets a fresh start away from Nick Young’s ex-fiancee and Bryant’s shadow.

If the Lakers have to give up more of their young core to trade for George rather than signing him outright in 2018, he'll be eligible to get much more money in the long term, as L.A. would acquire his Bird rights. That's something no superstar would ignore, and it's exactly the rabbit-out-of-the-hat way Pelinka made his mark on the league as an agent before switching sides earlier this year.

Backroom dealings with agents weren't a strong suit of Kupchak, who adhered tightly to following rules and norms. That said, it's still incumbent on Pelinka to prove his various plans lead to a real-world, star-powered destination.

In the meantime, Johnson's belief in the next rookie point guard runs deep, which is why he told Lonzo Ball in their predraft meeting that he envisions him coming in to be a leader. Having that space to lead would have been nearly impossible had Lakers head coach Luke Walton not concluded that Russell wasn't going to develop into what the Lakers wanted, essentially making him a tradable asset.

Russell did improve with the faith Walton tried to put in him from the beginning of last season, but his personality is not one that wins people over. Bottom line.

When you are as aloof as Russell is and are trying to sell experienced leaders such as Johnson and Walton on your leadership ability, that's a dead end, no matter how good your pick-and-roll passing or shooting stroke might become.

True, this was definitely selling low on Russell, the 2015 No. 2 overall pick, as suggested earlier this week. Yet there was also a risk of Russell's value dropping even further after a year of Ball upstaging him in the Lakers offense and him continuing to be a ghost in the Lakers defense.

Adding Lopez to the mix may also accomplish what Kupchak had hoped when he signed Mozgov. Lopez is a talented player and great locker room personality (think Pau Gasol) who will help the young Lakers win games in the coming season, much as Mozgov and Luol Deng were supposed to do last year.

After unveiling a three-point shot last season, Lopez is now uniquely suited for Walton's spread-floor system, while he also promises to protect the rim. (He made 134 threes in 2016-17; Russell, by comparison, hit 135). Lopez, 29, is from North Hollywood and is a Southern California kid just like Ball and George. Part of the vision of Johnson and Pelinka is to maximize that local angle, so perhaps Lopez winds up staying for less money or does well enough to give the Lakers another asset.

But Lopez's arrival isn't the point. Rather, Mozgov's departure is the key in this deal, as it opens up the financial space for when someone worthy of superstar money comes.

In that sense, the sad final years of Jim Buss and Kupchak—and Bryant—could serve a useful purpose in Lakers history.

No one wanted to take the torch and pressure from arguably the greatest Laker ever, Bryant. It's far more appealing to be a savior and revive this immensely popular NBA franchise from its darkest days.

That's why Johnson didn't think he needed Jerry West, who did want back in with the Lakers before settling for a role in the Clippers' front office.

Johnson and Pelinka believe they can do this, which is why they're not being shy about trying.

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.

The spotlight never shines away from arguably the NBA's premier franchise, so it comes as no surprise that plenty of rumors surround the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of a crucial stretch of in the league's offseason.

A No. 2 overall draft position brings plenty of intrigue and speculation, as new reports suggest the Lakers may be exploring different options with their top pick. Also, a logjam of current and potentially acquired future talent may force Los Angeles to move a quality piece sooner rather than later.

Let us take a look at the latest buzz surrounding the team as well as the possible implications.

Jordan Clarkson the Odd Man Out?

After stumbling to four straight seasons with under 30 wins, the Lakers have been able to stockpile young talent that could be ready to break out in the near future. With another highly touted rookie set to join the fray, Jordan Clarkson could find himself on the way out.

According to Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders, Los Angeles is "increasingly open-minded" about moving Clarkson with the draft approaching. Nothing appears very imminent or too substantial at this point, but the notion does make sense even though Clarkson emerged as arguably the team's best player over the past few seasons.

The 24-year-old former second-round pick averaged 14.2 points and 2.8 assists per game over the last three seasons while playing mostly on the wing. His 44.1 field-goal and 33.4 three-point percentages over that span are not outstanding, but Clarkson certainly has value as a legitimate slasher who can finish at the rim and provide consistent secondary scoring.

If the Lakers opted for a trade, Clarkson could command a solid return.

Los Angeles could certainly use an impact or budding big man to supplement a frontcourt that lacks much depth. Julius Randle is an effective mid-range and block player, and Ivica Zubac has some promise, but upgrading this area of floor looks to be a need moving forward.

The market for convincing another team to part with a young big man may be difficult, but Clarkson could be worth a mid to late first round pick. A team like the Orlando Magic could fit the bill, as it holds the No. 25 pick and could use some more length and athleticism in their backcourt.

With a loaded guard class at the top of the draft and buzz surrounding Paul George possibly becoming a Laker in the next couple of years, Los Angeles will need to make some sort of move to make its pieces fit. Clarkson looks like a prime candidate to be that guy, but the team must decide quickly whether that time is now, as it runs the risk of his value fluctuating the more he plays. 

Lonzo Ball Falling Out of Favor?

Despite Lonzo Ball's baggage with the family circus that surrounds him, the talented UCLA product seemed like a safe bet to end up a Laker. That was up until now.

In the first credible rumor since the draft lottery suggesting Ball may not be the favorite to end up in Los Angeles, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports the Lakers could move in another direction unless Ball impresses in his workout:

"With reports surfacing that the LA Lakers and former UCLA guard Lonzo Ball have finalized the details of a workout and face to face meeting in LA next week, there is a growing sense that unless Lonzo absolutely blows the doors off, he may not be the Lakers’ guy.

The Lakers are weeks away from needing to make their final decision, but there are many that believe the Lakers could go after both Kansas forward Josh Jackson and Kentucky guard De'Aaron Fox."

Ball's camp, after previously boasting he would only meet with the Lakers, is now also reportedly looking to talk with others like the Philadelphia 76ers and the Sacramento Kings. This is certainly an interesting development, but is it the right course for Los Angeles?

D'Angelo Russell took big steps last season and is starting to look a starting NBA guard, but the playmaking ability that he showed at Ohio State has yet to manifest itself so far with the Lakers. He is averaging four assists per game through two seasons, but roughly 40 percent career shooting does not demand enough attention from defenses to help and create space for others.

Ball would solve this issue for the Lakers. He is pretty much inarguably the draft's best passer, as his 7.6 assists per game led Division I men's basketball as a freshman. He also showed the ability to create and make his own shot, shooting 55.1 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three. The 76ers highlighted this fact in a brief video package:

However, Ball's 2.5 turnovers per game will need to come down at the next level.

Adding Ball would allow the Lakers to have two floor generals in the game simultaneously while giving plenty more room to gifted scorer Brandon Ingram to develop his game. A year after drafting Ingram, it is tough to see Los Angeles taking another small forward in Jackson, but Fox presents a good fit.

The Kentucky product is arguably the fastest player in the draft while possessing excellent athleticism. He can push the pace while getting to the rim at ease and finding players teammates in transition. His three-point shooting (24.6 percent last season) gives Ball an advantage. However, he roasted Ball in the NCAA tournament, highlighting his superiority in the defensive part the game, via the NCAA:

Ball is the more polished and complete player at the moment, but Fox could turn into a superstar if he hones his athletic ability. Fox also does not bring a media frenzy everywhere he goes. In the end, though, Ball is a better fit as a missing piece the Lakers desperately need.

Jerry West Almost Returned to the Lakers?

Los Angeles made a big splash when it brought back legend Magic Johnson to call the shots in regards to player personnel, but another big name reportedly wanted to get back in the fold with the Lakers.

Jerry West was reportedly considered for a role in the Lakers front office before team controlling owner Jeanie Buss went with Johnson and Rob Pelinka as general manager, which is something those close to West say he wanted "more than anything," according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.

The Logo boasts a sensational resume as an executive, when he twice has won NBA Executive of the Year. He was the architect behind the "Showtime" Laker teams of the 1980s, helped bring in Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal to set up another dynasty and rebuilt the Memphis Grizzlies in the early 2000s with gems like Pau Gasol.  

West works as an executive board member for the Golden State Warriors, a position he took in 2011. Since that time, the team is making its third straight trip the NBA Finals, won a league title and drafted players like Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

What could have been for the Lakers? It is not known exactly why West did not return to the franchise, but he has an uncanny eye for talent and team-building that would have been valuable. Plus, he is familiar with head coach Luke Walton from their days with the Warriors.

It now appears West may move across town, which could add insult to injury for the Lakers, per ESPN's Marc Stein:

Johnson and Pelinka still have ample time to prove themselves, but not adding West could end up as a setback for this rebuild if the team stumbles in the next few seasons.

Statistics are courtesy of NBA.com.

Kobe Bryant provides insight as to what makes the Golden State Warriors so dominant on the latest Canvas episode by ESPN.

Entitled "The Golden Democracy," the video breaks down how the team utilizes its stars to create the perfect offense, which led the league with 115.9 points per game this season.

Bryant was especially impressed by the passing ability, noting the team's 84 assists on 135 field goals through the first three games of the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors followed that up with 30 assists on 48 field goals in Game 4, completing the sweep of the San Antonio Spurs.

"Yes, they have great individual scorers, but those scorers are never stagnant," Bryant said. "They are constantly looking for each other, screening for each other and passing to each other, taking advantage of every defensive mistake."

Golden State enters the NBA Finals with 12 straight playoff wins.

While Bryant retired last season after 20 years in the NBA, he continues to follow the action and give advice to current players. Per Jackie MacMullan of ESPN.com, he not only had "many conversations" with Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas during the playoffs, but he also often speaks with James Harden, Russell Westbrook and more.

His Canvas videos are part of a six-episode series on ESPN.

The new football stadium opening in Inglewood, California that will serve as the home for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers has had its opening delayed one year until 2020.

Per Sam Farmer and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times, developers determined they wouldn't be able to make the planned 2019 opening due to massive rainfall during the "mass excavation" portion of the construction.  

“The continuing rains really knocked us for a loop,” said Bob Aylesworth, principal in charge for the Turner/AECOM Hunt joint venture that is building the stadium. “It was a very unforgiving two months for the project. And speaking from a building perspective, it really couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Per Ricky Henne of Chargers.com, research before the project began allotted 30 days for weather-related delays, but "the six-month timeframe from October through April alone produced 120 percent the amount of rain for a typical year."

Chargers president of business operations A.G. Spanos issued a statement on the delay and about the team playing in the StubHub Center through 2019:

“Our future home will be the best stadium in the NFL and deliver a transformational experience for Chargers fans. If getting it right means pushing back the completion date, then I think the extra year is well worth it.

“Construction is our family business, so we understand the challenges that come with a project of this magnitude. At StubHub Center we are creating an unparalleled environment for watching NFL football, and considering that no other venue in the league brings you closer to the action, we think Chargers fans will enjoy our three years in Carson.”

Farmer and Fenno noted the Rams will continue to play their home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum through 2019, while adding that it's "unclear" if the stadium will still be allowed to host Super Bowl 55 in February 2021 because league rules state "a stadium cannot play host to a Super Bowl in its inaugural season."

If that turns out to be the case, the host team(s) would be required to get a waiver from the NFL to host the Super Bowl. As Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network noted, the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl needed a waiver to host in 2014.

The Rams moved back to Los Angeles last season after playing in St. Louis from 1995-2015. The Chargers will play with Los Angeles as their home city in 2017 for the first time since their inaugural season in 1960. 

LOS ANGELES — There is a mathematical poetry to the No. 2 Lonzo Ball has worn all of his basketball life and the three consecutive No. 2 picks the Lakers have won in the NBA draft lottery. Their potential pairing was all but preordained.

It's not nearly that simple, with the Lakers front office determined to approach predraft workouts with an open mind toward Ball, De'Aaron Fox, Markelle Fultz and Josh Jackson for that No. 2 pick, according to league sources.

Make no mistake, though: Ball can make his dream of playing for his hometown team come true.

The Lakers went into the lottery Tuesday with the idea at this early stage that Ball might have the slight edge on Fultz and the others, according to sources, even as the club insists on being meticulous throughout the upcoming research process.

Now it's up to Ball as to whether he can seal the deal in his workouts and interviews with the Lakers.

Los Angeles is not at all deterred by the circus that Ball's father, LaVar, is creating around the family. The early feedback about Lonzo is what matters to the Lakers, and their proximity to UCLA has allowed them to get some early intel.

Those close to the UCLA program are well aware that Lonzo is completely different from his father, perhaps not surprising considering one giant personality leaves little room for other such personalities in a single household.

Not only is Lonzo dissimilar from his father, he is also dissimilar from most 5-star, future pro basketball sensations who arrive on campus feeling as if they are gifts who should be wrapped up in bows.

"Considerate, not entitled" is the description one source used to describe the impression Ball left on everyone around the UCLA basketball program.

Even more important to NBA scouts is Ball's dedication to his craft.

"In the recent years of UCLA basketball, the only player who worked harder on his game was Russ Westbrook the summer between his freshman and sophomore seasons," the source said.

The Lakers, of course, will have to wait and see what the Celtics do at No. 1 first, and whether they want Fultz's scoring or Ball's passing—or something else altogether. Although the public perception is that this draft shapes up as something similar to how Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram stood above all others a year ago, the view from several league executives is that nothing is clear-cut this time.

In that sense, the Lakers escaping Tuesday and beating the 53.1 percent likelihood they would fall out of the top three and convey their pick to Philadelphia was not as big of a boon as keeping their pick last year at No. 2.

The Lakers were higher on Ingram last year than they are on anyone this year right now. That's not to say that during predraft circuit, Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka won't fall in love with Ball, Fox, Fultz or Jackson. Any of those four likely would've gone No. 3 overall in the draft last year over the likes of Jaylen Brown, Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray and Dragan Bender, but Simmons and Ingram were already the definite top two options on 2016 lottery night, with the 76ers enthralled with Simmons at No. 1.

If the lottery balls had not bounced the Lakers' way this time, it would not have been worse than losing the pick either of the previous two years, when they had so much less young talent in house.

At least now there is a base with Ingram, D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Ivica Zubac and Larry Nance Jr.

Adding to it with another No. 2 overall pick—and the No. 28 acquired from Houston for Lou Williams—only enhances the Lakers' chances of being relevant again. But the truth is that the Lakers were more obsessed with lottery balls in previous years, when they didn't have a front office to restructure or much young talent already in place.

Keeping the pick Tuesday offered less a of thrill for the Lakers than the satisfaction the franchise already has about its position moving forward. Luke Walton is a rising, young head coach, a new training facility is opening this year and the new front office gets the boost of seeing a first-round pick owed to Orlando dissolving into two second-rounders.

Every big or small break matters, considering how tortuous rebuilding efforts are, and the Lakers got one Tuesday, which means another access point to high-end talent is theirs.

The onus is now on Ball to sell himself to the Lakers on being that talent a month from now.

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.