LAS VEGAS — What’s the most enduring image of the Washington Wizards’ time in Nevada so far this summer?AJ Dybantsa maneuvering around and through four defenders for an emphatic two-handed dunk during his summer-league debut? Tre Johnson dribbling between his legs and stepping back for a pinpoint 3-pointer as part of a 26-point performance? Will Riley marauding through the lane as he scored 32 points against the Sacramento Kings?You can make a convincing case for any of those special moments, but let the Wizards themselves add another worthy nominee to the list: having all 11 other members of their standard roster attend the summer-league opener. Deandre Ayton, Bub Carrington, Justin Champagnie, Bilal Coulibaly, Anthony Davis, Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton, Alex Sarr, Tristan Vukčević, Cam Whitmore and Trae Young watched the exhibition game from courtside seats, most of them across from the team’s bench.“We’ve been trying to build a culture for the past two years, since I got drafted at least, and I think it’s showing right now,” George said. “I mean, there was no way I was missing summer league, and I think by me being here, Alex being here, Bilal being here, it just attracted all the other vets. I think it shows a lot that everybody’s around.”The 11 Wizards players not on the summer-league roster did more than attend the opening game. They traveled to Las Vegas to participate in the team’s three-day veteran minicamp, which officially ran from Friday through Sunday and included on-court workouts and weightlifting sessions under the supervision of Wizards’ coaches, development staff and athlete care and performance staff.It is common for some veteran players to attend their teams’ NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas and to work out individually while they are in town. But it is exceptionally rare for a team to have all members of its roster together in Vegas simultaneously. It is the offseason, after all, and participation in the veteran minicamp was optional. Players who aren’t on the summer league roster must pay for their own travel and their own hotel accommodations.“The biggest thing that we’re doing is we’re creating a chemistry and a cohesion amongst the group,” said Wizards assistant coach J.J. Outlaw, who ran the minicamp. “The guys have chosen to be out here. They’re doing this on their own dime, and they’re doing it because they bought into the group, and they want to be a part of what this new ‘Wizards Way’ group is going to look like.”The Wizards’ front office took measures to make participating attractive. This is the third consecutive summer that the franchise has maintained a practice facility in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center ballroom, replete with a regulation basketball court, weight-room equipment, an area for the entire team to study game film and athletic-training tables for players to receive massage therapy and have their ankles taped.
How the Washington Wizards built chemistry, cohesion at their veteran minicamp
All 11 members of the Wizards who are not on the team's summer-league roster participated in the squad's veteran minicamp in Las Vegas.











