Marc Stein reports that 16 of 17 Lakers will join Luka Doncic in Slovenia this month.
The quietest stretch of the NBA calendar just produced the most encouraging Los Angeles Lakers news of the summer.
Luka Doncic invited every teammate to join him in Slovenia for a four-day minicamp this month, a trip first reported last week by ESPN's Dave McMenamin, and on Monday Marc Stein reported that the turnout will be about as close to perfect as the franchise could have hoped.
Sixteen of the 17 players on the roster are making the trip, per Stein, and the lone absence is not a case of anyone skipping out on their new leader.
Nearly Perfect Attendance
The only player staying home is first-round pick Cameron Carr, and the league itself is the reason.
"League sources say it would have been 17 of 17 if just-drafted swingman Cameron Carr wasn't required to participate in an official NBA rookie orientation that conflicts with what Dončić is calling a 'team bonding trip,'" Stein wrote.
Everyone else is in, a group that includes Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler and Bronny James along with returners like Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jake LaRavia and newcomers such as Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
McMenamin reported the itinerary will feature workouts, golf, some Ljubljana tourism and plenty of bonding time ahead of training camp.
What the Trip Says About the New Lakers
A star organizing a voluntary August camp on another continent and getting nearly the whole roster to show up is rare in this league, which is why the attendance number is the real headline here.
This is the first season since LeBron James left for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, so the locker room now belongs to Doncic in every sense, and he is acting like it.
He has already said he is confident in the new-look roster, and his teammates sound just as bought in.
Sexton spent part of his summer praising what Kessler brings to the team, while the front office explained what led it to Ziaire Williams as it filled out the wing.
A roster with this much turnover needs real time together, and four days of workouts and golf in Ljubljana beats a few quiet pickup runs in El Segundo.
The Stakes
Doncic held up his end last season, averaging 33.5 points per game across 64 games and making the All-NBA First Team even though a Grade 2 left hamstring strain in early April ended his year and kept him out of the playoffs.
Los Angeles went 53-29 and still got swept out of the Western Conference semifinals by Oklahoma City with its best player unable to return.
That ending is the reason this trip feels bigger than a vacation.
JJ Redick's team was good enough to win 53 games and nowhere near good enough to threaten the Thunder, so the margins have to come from somewhere else, and chemistry is the cheapest place to find them.
The Lakers cannot practice their way to a title in August, but they can start becoming a real team, and 16 of 17 players choosing to spend part of their offseason in Slovenia suggests the buy-in is already there.
