In a season mired by rumors and hoopla of players' potential future destinations, Sports Illustrated's Rohan Nadkarni was determined to get Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball to muse about a potential pairing with LeBron James next summer.

While Ball bit with a short response to a potential alley-oop play between the King and himself, it quickly became evident this reporter was trying to fish a soundbite out of him.

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Ball, aside from being of relatively quiet demeanor, has likely taken classes preparing him for media questions of this kind, as there's plenty more of those same type of questions to be expected in the City of Angels.

The Lakers have their own problems to worry about with the sudden allegations of tampering with former Indiana Pacers star forward Paul George, and likely won't need to draw any more attention by bringing another potential big-time free agent in James into question.

The UCLA product has already gotten improved pieces to share the ball with, compared to Luke Walton's first season with the team, now boasting a legitimate three-and-D option in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a scoring center in Brook Lopez — two targets that will surely benefit from this dynamo's court vision.