Lonzo Ball was the first draft pick made for the Los Angeles Lakers after they hired Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka to run the front office and their judgement may have been clouded by the narrative.

“It was looked at from Magic and others’ perspective as being too good of a Hollywood story to pass up,” said one league source who was familiar with the Lakers draft strategy preparation. “This has to work out because it’s a perfect story. Because it’s Hollywood.”

Donovan Mitchell, De’Aaron Fox and Markelle Fultz all turned in more impressive individual workouts than Ball.

Another source close to the Lakers agreed with that characterization, saying, “It was too good to be true. I think the Hollywood story was the worst thing that could have happened to him looking back. You have the most storied franchise and the franchise’s most storied player, arguably, proclaiming this guy to be the next big thing. Wow.”

Ball was traded by the Lakers to the New Orleans Pelicans after his second season in the league and he will be one of the NBA's most intriguing restricted free agents this offseason.