Luka Dončić may already be back home in Slovenia, but his basketball schedule there is shaping up around the Los Angeles Lakers rather than the Slovenian national team.
The Slovenian Basketball Federation announced a 19-player roster for the next stage of 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifying, and Dončić was not among the players selected. His absence was expected after he previously said he would sit out Slovenia’s summer games, but the official roster now removes any uncertainty about what follows an important Lakers gathering in his home country.
Dončić is hosting Los Angeles’ roster for a four-day offseason minicamp in Slovenia later this month. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin previously reported that the itinerary will include workouts, golf, sightseeing in Ljubljana and team-bonding activities ahead of NBA training camp.
Instead of finishing that event and shifting directly into competitive games with Slovenia, Dončić can remain focused on preparing for his first full season as the unquestioned centerpiece of a dramatically rebuilt Lakers roster.
Slovenia Roster Removes Extra Games From Dončić’s August
Slovenia is preparing for games against Latvia and Montenegro before beginning the second round of World Cup qualifying against France in Paris and Hungary in Ljubljana, according to the national federation.
Dončić will not be part of that group.
That distinction matters more for the Lakers than simply giving their star some additional rest.
Los Angeles has undergone enormous turnover this summer. LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes were among the departures, while the Lakers added Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, Jaden Hardy, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and rookie Cameron Carr.
The result is a roster that needs time together.
Dončić has personally created some of that time by organizing the Slovenia trip. It was previously reported that 16 Lakers players have committed to attend, with Carr the lone expected absentee because of the NBA’s mandatory rookie orientation. Dončić has also chartered a plane and is covering the cost of transporting and hosting his teammates, according to Marc Stein.
For a team trying to develop chemistry around a new core, that makes the minicamp more than an offseason vacation.
Healthy Dončić Can Keep Focus on Lakers
The timing also carries added significance because of how Dončić’s previous season ended.
A Grade 2 left hamstring strain suffered in April ultimately kept him from returning during the Lakers’ playoff run. Dončić recently announced that he is healthy again following his rehabilitation, giving Los Angeles a much cleaner starting point entering the 2026-27 season.
The Lakers therefore do not need Dončić to spend August proving he can handle competitive basketball. They need him healthy, building familiarity with a substantially different roster and establishing the leadership structure of a team now constructed around him.
Skipping Slovenia’s qualifiers does not guarantee anything about Dončić’s health or the Lakers’ season. It does, however, eliminate another set of meaningful games and another basketball schedule immediately after the Lakers’ minicamp.
For Los Angeles, that is a useful development.
Dončić gets to bring his new teammates onto his home turf, spend four days working and bonding with them, then keep his attention on the NBA season rather than switching uniforms for World Cup qualifying.
After an offseason defined by change around him, the Lakers now have a clear runway to make that Slovenia trip about their own next chapter.
Suggested internal links: Heavy’s July 29 report on Dončić organizing the Slovenia minicamp, and Heavy’s Aug. 4 report on Cameron Carr being the lone expected absentee.
Luka Dončić Gets Clear Run at Lakers Minicamp After Slovenia Decision