Los Angeles Lakers President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson and General Manager Rob Pelinka are as eager as anyone to sign superstar LeBron James next year. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski claims Johnson and Pelinka have been making efforts since Day 1 in the team's front office to be able to pull off that deal. Johnson and Pelinka replaced former President Jim Buss and General Manager Mitch Kupchak in the team's front office earlier this year.

''From the day they got the job they started to do it,'' Wojnarowski revealed on ESPN's The Jump when asked if Johnson and Pelinka have been trying to ''butter up'' James' agent Rich Paul.

''And that's their job. Their job here is to make the Lakers a destination place again for the biggest free agents in the game. And LeBron's going to be the biggest free agent in the game next year.''

The process

The Los Angeles Lakers have so far insisted on preserving cap space for the 2018 offseason as a couple of big names are set to hit free agency a year from now. The likes of an already mentioned LeBron James as well as All-Stars Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins have all been mentioned as potential signings for the Purple and Gold.

The Lakers' most notable acquisition so far this offseason has been former Detroit Piston Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who agreed on a one-year, $18 million contract.

The team was not willing to hand out any long term contracts as the goal remains to have as much cap space as possible for next year's free agency.

The Lakers will continue to develop their promising young core, which includes Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle, and others. The team's plan is to showcase an exciting brand of basketball this upcoming season, as that should help them in their bid of luring the big names to the Hollywood.

A rookie gets a big boost of confidence

Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant gave recognition to 2017 NBA Las Vegas Summer League final MVP Kyle Kuzma through his Twitter account on Wednesday.

Rookie Kuzma led the way for the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night, torching the Portland Trail Blazers in the final game. The forward scored a game-high 30 points on notable 11-of-16 shooting from the field to help the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers 110-98.

However, Kuzma didn't ''show up'' only when it mattered most, as he was contributing on a regular basis to his team in Sin City. The 27th pick of this past NBA draft rose to the occasion big-time, finishing the competition on averages of 21.9 points per game on incredibly good 51.4 field goal percentage.

Durant, 28, was named the 2017 NBA Finals MVP after helping the Warriors to make it past the Cleveland Cavaliers and win the Championships.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED