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Los Angeles Lakers: Top Pac-12 players available in 2018 NBA Draft

Shereen Rayan|
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 17: Rob Pelinka, Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Joe Lacob of the Golden State Warriors attend the NBA Draft Combine Day 1 at the Quest Multisport Center on May 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 17: Rob Pelinka, Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Joe Lacob of the Golden State Warriors attend the NBA Draft Combine Day 1 at the Quest Multisport Center on May 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 8: Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott sits next to Los Angeles Lakers President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson during the quarterfinal game of the mens Pac-12 Tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins on March 8, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 8: Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott sits next to Los Angeles Lakers President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson during the quarterfinal game of the mens Pac-12 Tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins on March 8, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers 2018 NBA Draft rookie class could include more Pac-12 picks at No. 25 and 47, or Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson could trade up to get a big fish in Ayton.

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted UCLA’s Lonzo Ball as their first pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The front office earlier traded center Timofey Mozgov and guard D’Angelo Russel to the Brooklyn Nets for two former Pac-12 players; Stanford Alum Brook Lopez, and the 27th overall pick, which ended up being Kyle Kuzma. Coach Mark Madsen is also a Stanford Alum and four Lakers coaches including Head Coach Luke Walton are former University of Arizona Wildcats. The Arizona Wildcats are back-to-back Pac-12 Conference Champions.

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, a Michigan graduate, was interviewed during the NBA Combine. He talked about how they came to determine why Kuzma was a top draft pick for his organization. Pelinka spoke about the four phases of evaluation the Lakers go through which are College Evaluation, Combine Evaluation, Interviews, and Team Workouts.

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Pelinka’s right-hand man Magic Johnson is a rival Michigan State Spartan. But this past season, Magic was spotted at several Pac-12 games and seen eying Arizona’s Deandre Ayton. That means he got a good taste of all the Bruins and Arizona Wildcats in the upcoming draft and more.

Bill Walton, Pac-12 basketball color commentator and Luke Waltons dad, absolutely loves some of these Pac-12 players. He will also tell you when he thinks they could play better. You gotta think he has Luke’s ear when it comes to the draft.

CBS Sports  gathered the list of 130 plus NCAA athletes who either left school to enter the NBA draft or are testing the NBA waters. Some were invited to the Combine last week on May 16th in Chicago and some were not. All players who are still eligible to play in the NCAA have until May 30th (10 days after the Combine ends) to decide whether to go back to school or stay in the draft.

Let’s go through the Pac-12 players on  list school by school.

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