A smile broke out across Magic Johnson’s face. He extended his arm, giving a fist bump to the player sitting on his left.

The scene was at the Lakers’ introductory press conference for rookies Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Moritz Wagner. The moment came when Rob Pelinka, Lakers general manager, spoke about a five a.m. phone call made by Johnson, Lakers president of basketball operations, to share how impressed he was by Mykhailiuk guarding Duke’s Marvin Bagley in the Elite Eight.

“I remember when Svi was playing in the tournament and he was playing against Duke and he was guarding their other team’s best player,” Pelinka recalled. “[Johnson] called and said, ‘That showed me a lot about him, his toughness, his mentality.’”

It was hardly the first time the Lakers focused in on Mykhailiuk, but it may have been the most impactful.

The No. 47-overall pick in the NBA Draft, Mykhailiuk had several opportunities to impress the Lakers. He wowed the team at an individual workout, multiple sources told Phog.net, and even connected with franchise when he tested the NBA Draft waters following his junior season — as did Wagner following his sophomore campaign.

Both players opted to return to college, but the front office kept a close eye on them.

“We felt both of them got better, got stronger, and when it was time for us to select, it was a no-brainer for us to select both of them,” Johnson said. “I think our players are excited as well to have both of them be Lakers.”

Certainly on the second go-around both players had more than established themselves as draft-worthy talents.

In his senior season, Mykhailiuk averaged 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He launched more than 6-and-a-half 3s per game, converting on a strong 44.4 percent to set the KU basketball all-time single-season record for made 3s (115).

Johnson hammered a similar point several times throughout his press conference, stating the Lakers have much room for improvement from the 3-point line. Johnson later added that “stretching the floor is going to be very important to our team” and then went back and said it again.

Mykhailiuk, on the other hand, was less worried about how he's going to fit in on the court and more thrilled with where that court ended up being.

"I think both of us knew a lot about the Lakers. It’s a great franchise with a great history, with a great tradition," Mykhailiuk said. "Being here is really an honor for us — being part of the Lakers, especially being a part of the NBA."

Throughout the pre-draft process Mykhailiuk also impressed Johnson with his intangibles and toughness. Additionally, he should be a fit for the team’s defensive system, which involves a lot of switching out on the perimeter.

“We had a lot of good guards and were king of short on bigs, so I had to switch a lot,” Mykhailiuk said of his time at Kansas, noting the team often switched one-through-four. “For me, the adjustment is going to be pretty easy.”

Indeed the biggest transition for Mykhailiuk may be the logistical one.

In the NBA there are twice as many games. The games are longer, played twice as often and are against better athletes and more highly skilled players. Then, once you get through all that, there's the potential to play anywhere from an additional four to 28 games in the postseason, in addition to preseason and NBA Summer League action.

Regardless, it's a challenge Mykhailiuk embraces.

The Ukraine-native was asked about coming to the United States and why he wanted to play college basketball in the first place. Mykhailiuk said it was all about that very thing — wanting to test himself against a high level of competition.

“One time I saw a college game on TV back home and I thought it was fun,” he recalled. “And also I was trying to go to the NBA and I think for me, it’d be better to go through college and then the NBA. And I chose Kansas, one of the greatest schools. I think it was a great choice for me.”