The USA Basketball hype machine is in full swing right now as the four day training camp in Las Vegas is coming to a close. Interest in USA Basketball is rightfully high as it generally brings together some of the best ballers the NBA has to offer. Now as with every non Olympic event that the USA is represented in, it inevitably brings some no-shows from among the eligible stars.
Before we get into just who is playing let's pause to see who opted out of the 2014 FIBA World Cup. The USA team will be without the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. When one looks at the group of players taking a pass on this year's World Cup; all but one starter from the 2012 London Olympics stayed home this summer.
Highlighting the new and returning players for this year's version of team USA is the lone starter from 2012; Kevin Durant. Joining Durant as the only returning players are James Harden and Anthony Davis. With only the three familiar faces to USA Basketball making themselves available, there are a lot of new players eager to break into the lineup and create impressions that could lead to their inclusion on the 2016 USA Dream Team that would be Olympic bound.
As it stands now there are 20 hopefuls in the training camp all vying for 12 eventual roster spots come World Cup time. In the interim there will be at least five player cuts before the August 22 domestic tour concludes with the remaining roster spots likely determined after the cross USA tour wraps up.
Here are the hopefuls who are in camp now for team USA; Bradley Beal, DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, Kevin Durant, Kenneth Faried, Paul George, James Harden, Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Korver, Damian Lillard, Paul Millsap, Chandler Parsons, Miles Plumlee, Derrick Rose, Klay Thompson and John Wall.
Of this bunch the core group that will be leaned on to lead the team to success will be Durant, Rose, Harden, Davis and Curry. The rest of the spots are pretty wide open for competition and I’m betting that we will see some surprises along the way once the 12 man roster is finalized.
The one player from this group who is receiving an immense amount of attention through the media and hoop fans alike is of course Derrick Rose. Rose hasn’t seen real game action in nearly two seasons and the hoop-loving public are dying to see what he will look like at full speed again. If the reports coming out of training camp are any indication then Rose looks to be at full strength and he appears to be playing with absolute confidence in his body and game. This is tremendous news not only for team USA but also for Assistant Coach Tom Thibodeau.
The training camp concludes with a Blue versus White team scrimmages on friday and these games are hotly contested as for some it will be their last chance to make an impression on the coaching staff. Check back in with eDraft as we offer our analysis of the games and then construct a 15 man roster based on the training camp play.