Over the last four seasons, the Lakers have featured their four worst teams in franchise history. After the debacle of Kobe Bryant’s retirement tour in 2015-16 and a failed retooling that included the disastrous Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng contracts last season, Jeanie Buss decided in February to blow up the front office.

There was a messy legal fight between her and other members of the Buss family, but she ultimately got what she wanted: Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations and former agent Rob Pelinka as general manager (along with affirmation that she would be the controlling owner). And, for the first time since they brought in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, the Lakers seem to have a real plan this offseason.

The biggest domino to fall was at the lottery on May 16, when the Lakers kept a top-three protected first-round pick and with it, their 2019 first-round pick. With point guard Lonzo Ball an easy take at No. 2 overall, the door was open for the team to move D’Angelo Russell, which it did, to the Nets, along with Mozgov’s albatross of a contract. Removing Mozgov’s contract opened up cap space that could be crucial next season with Paul George and LeBron James entering free agency. The Lakers also made their roster more appealing, adding Brook Lopez and a first-round pick in the trade.

Lopez only has a year left on his contract (a recurring theme for the Lakers this summer), but will provide good offense from the center position as a potential stopgap. As for the pick, Johnson and Pelinka parlayed it into two picks — a later first-rounder and a second-rounder — with which they took former Villanova star Josh Hart and Indiana’s Thomas Bryant.

Unlike previous seasons, which featured embarrassing failures in free agency when former GM Mitch Kupchak went after Carmelo Anthony and LaMarcus Aldridge, the Lakers have been relatively quiet this summer. They were rumored to be in the mix for Paul George, but stood pat as Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard dealt him to Oklahoma City. (George, who has called the idea of playing for his hometown team a “dream,” is widely rumored to come to Los Angeles after this season.)

The only marquee signing the Lakers have made is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a 24-year-old shooting guard who agreed to a yearlong contract Tuesday night for $18 million after the Pistons rescinded his qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent in a market that had dried up. Caldwell-Pope, a rugged defender, will slide in nicely next to Ball, who found defense to be optional at UCLA.

The only move left to make this summer is for point guard Rajon Rondo, whom the team is reportedly still after. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported early Wednesday the Lakers are trying to sign Rondo using their $4.3 million room exception.

The Lakers don’t look like a playoff team in the stacked Western Conference, but they do look respectable, which was tough to say a year ago. Having lost their pick in next year’s draft, there is no incentive to tank again, so the plan seems to be winning 35 games and developing Ball, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson, Hart and fellow rookie Kyle Kuzma.

Next July, however, will start the summer of George. And, if rumors are to be believed, LeBron James. And, just maybe, Russell Westbrook and/or DeMarcus Cousins. In short, the Lakers are sitting on their hands this year. But come 2018, they could be back among the West’s elite.