Bill Bertka has seen just about everything in his 90 years: the beginnings of the Showtime era Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, Kobe Bryant's legendary pre-draft workouts that convinced then-GM Jerry West he was looking at a future star, the best coaching moments of icons like Pat Riley and Phil Jackson.

So when Bertka burst into the Lakers' scouting meetings this spring, raving about some kid from Utah he'd scouted during the Pac-12 Conference tournament, everyone in the room took note.

"He got all wide-eyed," Lakers director of scouting Jesse Buss recalls. "And he said, 'If this guy isn't an NBA player, then I don't know what the f--- I'm looking at.'"

The guy who'd turned Bertka's head was Kyle Kuzma, a lanky forward with a sweet jump shot and old-school post moves whom most mock drafts projected as a late-second-round pick.

At the time, the room was still debating the merits of the star freshmen at the top of the draft -- Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz, De'Aaron Fox, Josh Jackson and Jayson Tatum -- who had the talent to become superstars and change the course of the franchise if the Lakers ended up keeping their top-3 protected pick.

Most analysts regarded Kuzma as a solid all-around player with the potential to be a stretch-4 in the NBA game, but 21-year-olds don't get much credit for potential in the one-and-done era. And 21-year-olds who shoot 31.2 percent from beyond the arc in their junior year of college might as well pack their bags for the G League.

But when Bertka spoke that way about a player, it was best to pay attention. Kuzma might not have had the hype the Lakers' eventual lottery pick, Ball, did. He certainly didn't have anyone promoting him like Ball's outspoken father, LaVar Ball. But Kuzma had a versatility to his game that's hard to find in players his size (6-foot-9). If he was still available at the end of the first round when they had Picks 27 and 28, they'd consider him.

"When Magic [Johnson] and I drew up the architecture for how we wanted this team to be built, we knew that positionless, versatile players would be at the core of that," Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said. "And when we started drilling down and studying Kyle, we knew he'd fit that mold."

Said Buss: "What stood out for me was his ability to switch between multiple positions and guard them as well. His offensive skill set didn't really have many holes minus the consistency on his perimeter shooting. But he started to shoot it better once he got to conference play, and it carried into his workout with us.

"I loved his activity and his motor. He never really took plays off, and he didn't really lose himself after making a mistake."