Of all the 34 players and countless assistant coaches, not a single Laker will be found in Las Vegas this week for the festivities. The franchise will surely fold.
This, via Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal:
The 34 players who will be taking part in next week's USA Basketball minicamp pic.twitter.com/T3oO8qKVVP
— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) August 6, 2015
First and most obviously, the Lakers had no good players last year – at least not on the level of most of those invited to the minicamp. The lone exception to that statement is Michael Carter-Williams who is not good at basketball. I could make a very strong argument that Jordan Clarkson deserves to be there over him, but many could make as strong, if not stronger case for others around the league.
What could’ve been interesting is if Team USA opted for a few of the incoming rookies. In which case D’Angelo Russell would’ve been a possibility along with guys like Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor. Given how involved the Team USA organization has kept the NBA’s youth with the proceedings, it’s pretty surprising none of them made the cut, to be honest.
In terms of coaches Team USA might’ve wanted in Vegas— hahahahaha.
Now, many will jump to the conclusion that this is yet another sign of the times for the Lakers, especially when you consider three Los Angeles Clippers got an invite. But really, find something else to write about. If Carter Williams is involved, all it would take for any of the Lakers’ young core to participate in future Team USA activities is to continue breathing properly.
