Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers view Dan Hurley as a potential coach that can transform the franchise over the long-term and is well suited to adapt to the changing the landscape of the NBA that prioritizes player development. 

"The Lakers, Rob Pelinka, they want to put a program in place in L.A.," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "They don't want to have just coach-to-coach. They want to put a program in for the long-term. They want Dan Hurley's player development program.

"The NBA is changing. You can't in L.A. anymore just trade three or four first round picks to bring in a star player and think you can have a roster that will win. That's how they got Anthony Davis. But you are seeing you have to draft well. You have to develop your young players.

"In L.A., I think the belief is always you're going to be able to get the star player who finds his way to L.A., but you're going to have to grow your young players."

There is a frequently recited mantra that the team with the best player in the series typically wins it. But the broader context of the teams matters as well. The Dallas Mavericks have the better player in Luka Doncic, but the Boston Celtics had the far superior record and point differential in the regular season.

According to research by Ben Rohrbach, the "best" player in the NBA Finals has won 56 of 68 championships, good for a win percentage of 82.4 percent. LeBron James accounts for five of those 12 losses.

The team with the better regular season record has finished 47-18 in the Finals, which is a win percentage of 72.3 percent. Teams that finish with eight or more wins than their opponents are 30-5 (.857 winning percentage) in the Finals.