The Lakers and Kings are going in two different directions. The Lakers are looking for a specific supporting piece to air their pursuit of a championship, while the Kings are once again looking for future pieces as their present prospects circle a familiar drain. A deal that could serve both sides could be in the works. 

The Kings are "among the teams that [have] tried to engage the Lakers in Kuzma trade talks," and they know any deal would have to be centered on Bogdan Bogdanovic, per Marc Stein of the New York Times. 

The Lakers are pushing to win a championship this season, and Kuzma's inconsistency will only continue to hinder them as the season wears on. This is why it's not surprising that there are now reports that they are listening to trade offers on him. There's been buzz around if the Lakers will trade Kuzma for several weeks, but what's changed now is that the team is showing a willingness to listen to pitches for Kuzma, as reported by The Athletic's Sam Amick.

You can hear Lakers fans getting on their knees praying for this deal to go down. Bogdanovic represents everything that would push the Lakers closer to a title. He's a 38-percent 3-point shooter on over six attempts a game, which would properly space the floor in LeBron-Anthony Davis lineups. He's also a perfect secondary creator, always useful on LeBron teams and something the Lakers are short on. He's a capable and energetic defender. 

But not so fast, says Amick, who tweeted on Monday that the Kings would not be interested in a Bogdanovic-for-Kuzma trade straight up with only a salary filler attached. Bogdanovic is making $8.5 million to Kuzma's $1.9 million, meaning the Lakers would likely have to add Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to make the deal work. 

If Sacramento isn't interested in KCP, they would indeed need to be sold on Kuzma as the center of the deal. It's intriguing. Vlade Divac might relent if the market for Bogdanovic, who's a restricted free agent this summer and should attract a relatively sizable contract, doesn't heat up. But it will likely be at least active. Bogdanovic is a good player who fits a lot of teams. 

For now, nothing is happening. But the smoke has appeared. Lakers fans are hoping eventually there some fire.