The NBA season is still two months away. Teams have been busy this offseason, with many players finding new homes on different teams. The Los Angeles Lakers are among those teams. The young core is in New Orleans. Danny Green, Jared Dudley, DeMarcus Cousins, and Anthony Davis are among the new faces to the team. LeBron James is setting up a minicamp to start the team building.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic:
After a season of turmoil within the roster with injury concerns, with the whole Anthony Davis trade saga that culminated with Davis being traded to the Lakers in June, LeBron James has started organizing a team minicamp in Las Vegas, in September, days before the start of Lakers training camp. It’s meant to galvanize and bond this Lakers unit right before the real training camp that begins in Los Angeles in September.
This seems to be a growing trend as Charania is reporting that the Clippers will be setting up a similar camp.
Whether James noticed it or not, there was a change in team morale last season. Players were in trade rumors for most of the season. That type of uncertainty can affect a player and be extremely detrimental to the team. James doing this will pay dividends throughout the rest of the season. The new players will get a sense of how everyone else plays.
The league is as wide open as it has ever been. The Lakers need the team to gel together quick in hopes of finding the best way to optimize their players. This minicamp is a great idea to get that started. There are mentors on this team that will be great for the locker room and having everyone together early can be immense as the season starts.
The minicamp being in Las Vegas has a lot to look forward to as well. I for one, am looking forward to LeBron James’ Taco Tuesdays Instagrams from Tacos El Gordo.
