Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Dalton Knecht, Adou Thiero, and Bronny James — of the Los Angeles Lakers' main roster, those are the only returning faces from the 2025-26 campaign. Only four of those guys were rotation players, and even Vando teetered on the fringes.
The Lakers have a lot of new faces who are not only inbound, but are coming in to play major roles on the 2026-27 team. That much change can often come with sizable growing pains. However, Collin Sexton pointed out why the Lakers' Slovenia trip can work accelerate how quickly the team overcomes that initial obstacle.
Appearing on Mason & Ireland, Sexton said it typically takes a team 'some months' to get acclimated to the type of roster turnover that Los Angeles experienced this sumer. This is where joining Luka Doncic in Slovenia offers an edge to the Lakers.
"That's one of the biggest reasons that everyone was so happy that we was able to come together as soon as we did, because we we all know in the NBA [it] is definitely hard to win. But it's also hard to put a whole new group of team together."
Lakers' Slovenia trip gave them a head start on meshing before the season
Sexton explained that all the different personalities, roles, and other such things can make figuring out a fit difficult. That is why he thought Slovenia would 'speed up that process.'
Depending on how deep JJ Redick wants to play the rotation in the coming season, there is a very real chance that two thirds of it is completely different from last year. The Lakers coach preferred a nine-man rotation in most cases. Doncic and Reaves are the only returning players guaranteed a spot during 2026-27, if Redick is sticking to nine as the magic number.
LaRavia and Thiero should both have a fair crack to join that group as well, given the hole at forward. Even with that in mind, the point is clear. The Lakers will endure a ton of change.
Doncic organizing for his teammates to join him in Slovenia goes beyond a kind gesture. It is a necessity.
The Lakers want to compete for a title next year, despite some of the ruder assessments of the offseason. That leaves less room for error in 2026-27. A slow start out of the gates due to all the new faces would certainly qualify as the type of thing Los Angeles would want to avoid.
Doncic and crew do not have months to lose, as Sexton suggested can be the timeframe for a new team to truly mesh. Luckily for the Lakers, it does sound as though they are poised to conquer those challenges in the early goings of the coming campaign.
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