The Los Angeles Lakers probably thought they were going to land a star in the 2017 draft. But they likely thought they had acquired that pick at No. 2 not at No. 27.

Kyle Kuzma, not top pick Lonzo Ball, has been the Lakers' best rookie this season. After pouring in 31 points on Christmas, the most by a rookie on Christmas since LeBron James had 34 points in 2003, Kuzma is a legit Rookie of the Year candidate.

As Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes, the Lakers youth movement seems to have finally found its anchor star:

Kuzma has scored at least 20 points in five of his last six games, including a 38-point outburst at Houston on Dec. 20. In that span, he became the first Lakers rookie to score 25-plus points in three straight games since Jerry West.

"For a rookie to continue to play at the level he's playing at," Coach Luke Walton said, "against very good teams, playing very big minutes, is impressive."

Kuzma is the perfect of example of the inexact science of the NBA draft. Twenty three other teams had a chance to draft the versatile 6-foot-9 forward before he slipped to Los Angeles at No. 27, including the Portland Trail Blazers, who took Caleb Swanigan at No. 26.

In hindsight Kuzma is a top 5 talent who teams will be kicking themselves passing on. In reality, he's a late round pick, who popped. The Lakers had three first round picks last June and one of them has had impressive early returns. The secret to draft science is as much about maximizing your number of chances as it is about nailing your selections.

That's why framing the Blazers' decision as Swanigan over Kuzma probably isn't fair to the draft process. But go ahead and add Kuzma to the list of Blazers' "What ifs" with a caveat that he's on that list for more than half of the NBA.

It's probably too early to write off anyone in 2017 draft class as a bust, but less than halfway into the 2017-18 season it's easy to identify the rookie stars and Kuzma looks like a very bright one.

TRADE MARKET

Marcus Thompson of The Athletic reports that the Milwaukee Bucks are in the market for a center and have made initial inquiries to the Golden State Warriors, who have a bevy of big men on the back half their roster.

As Thompson reports: "Multiple sources confirmed the Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks have discussed a trade. Nothing is imminent, but the Bucks are on the market for a center and the Warriors are overstocked. The on-and-off conversations between the teams have included the Bucks inquiring about [Zaza] Pachulia and [JaVale] McGee."

The Warriors have six -- seriously six -- centers on the roster with Pachilia, McGee, David West, Jordan Bell, Damian Jones and Kevon Looney.

Bell has emerged as an option to start at center, West is a mainstay on the second unit and Pachulia is floating between third stringer or spot starter over Bell. That leaves nearly roughly 21-feet of tradable bigs between McGee, Jones and Looney.

If the Bucks are truly on the market for an affordable option at center after trading away Greg Monroe, they will extend their search well beyond the Bay Area. The Blazers don't have as many expendable big men as the Warriors, but they do have a crowded front court rotation and should at least pick up the phone and listen if the Bucks come calling.

Here's some more links from around the NBA:

Trail Blazers' rookie Caleb Swanigan is headed to the NBA G League

Fred Katz of The Norman Transcript writes that Andre Roberson saved the game for the Thunder in a Christmas Day win over the Houston Rockets.

The Washington Post's Candace Bucker writes that the Washington Wizards may have had a breakthrough moment in their win over the Boston Celtics.

LeBron James and Kevin Durant have differing opinions about a late game call non-call, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Trailblazers.com writer Casey Holdahl has a round up of where Portland sits in a variety of NBA Power Rankings.