2016 Olympic BB Team Roster

[luburch]

Less talented, but more polite.

And scared of the dark.

[Troublemaker]

From the front-page Yahoo interview with Colangelo:

Q: Do you already have a next coach in mind?
Colangelo: I always have a guy already in my head. Always did and always will.

I nominate Jeff Capel! Hey, Colangelo did push hard for Jeff to coach ASU.

[Skitzle]

If LeBron is thinking about playing in 2016, I think he'll show up to the mini-camp.

In fact, I'll even say I'd be SHOCKED to see him on the 2016 USA Team if he wasn't at the camp this month, not because of Team USA rules, but because of LeBron himself.

He's never seemed to be anything but supportive of USA Basketball in the K era, and I wouldn't expect him to start using his superstar privilege now as he never has before.

[Olympic Fan]

Just saw a TV report yesterday, talking about LeBron -- they said he WOULD show up in Vegas for the mini-camp, but would not play:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-...m-usa-minicamp

Seems pretty clear that he's keep his options open for 2016.

[sagegrouse]

Just saw a TV report yesterday, talking about LeBron -- they said he WOULD show up in Vegas for the mini-camp, but would not play:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-...m-usa-minicamp

Seems pretty clear that he's keep his options open for 2016.

I mean this kindly, but King James views his realm as the entire world of basketball. The chance he will voluntarily sit out the next Olympics would seem remote.

[NSDukeFan]

I mean this kindly, but King James views his realm as the entire world of basketball. The chance he will voluntarily sit out the next Olympics would seem remote.

The chances that he would involuntarily sit out the next Olympics would be even more remote.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The chances that he would involuntarily sit out the next Olympics would be even more remote.

Is Lebron the most powerful man in all of basketball? Does he trump Nike? Or even Adam Silver? I would think so, given that Lebron could set Cleveland on fire and the fans would just blame it on Johnny Football's drinking problem.

[Billy Dat]

The official mini-camp list hath been released...

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news...ticipants.aspx

Former Olympic and World Championship participants
Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook

Former World Champions (not Olympians)
DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, Rudy Gay, Kyrie Irving, Mason Plumlee, Klay Thompson

Those trying to make a team for the first time:
LaMarcus Aldridge, John Wall, Chandler Parsons, Kawhi Leonard, Gordon Hayward, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Bradley Beal, Harrison Barnes, Jimmy Butler, Michael Carter-Williams, Mike Conley, Draymond Green, Tobias Harris, DeAndre Jordan, Victor Oladipo

An AWESOME collection of players!

Notable absentees - not necessarily surprises:
D. Wade, Derrick Rose, Millsap, Dame Lillard, Mike Conley, Jeff Teague, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry...also, absolutely no incoming rookies. This being K's last run, and likely the last run of a lot of these 10 year vets, this feels like a really seasoned veteran affair.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The official mini-camp list hath been released...

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news...ticipants.aspx

Former Olympic and World Championship participants
Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook

Former World Champions (not Olympians)
DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, Rudy Gay, Kyrie Irving, Mason Plumlee, Klay Thompson

Those trying to make a team for the first time:
LaMarcus Aldridge, John Wall, Chandler Parsons, Kawhi Leonard, Gordon Hayward, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Bradley Beal, Harrison Barnes, Jimmy Butler, Michael Carter-Williams, Mike Conley, Draymond Green, Tobias Harris, DeAndre Jordan, Victor Oladipo

An AWESOME collection of players!

Notable absentees - not necessarily surprises:
D. Wade, Derrick Rose, Millsap, Dame Lillard, Mike Conley, Jeff Teague, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry...also, absolutely no incoming rookies. This being K's last run, and likely the last run of a lot of these 10 year vets, this feels like a really seasoned veteran affair.

Spain and Canada are clearly coming in first and second with the US a distant third.

[BD80]

The official mini-camp list hath been released...

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news...ticipants.aspx

Former Olympic and World Championship participants
Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook

Former World Champions (not Olympians)
DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, ... Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, ... Kyrie Irving, ... Klay Thompson

Those trying to make a team for the first time:
LaMarcus Aldridge, John Wall, ... Paul George, Blake Griffin, ..., Draymond Green, ...

An AWESOME collection of players!

...

The guys in bold are not likely to make the team! Sure, some spots will open up due to injury or contracts or whatever, but Westbrook would be the 4th PG behind Paul, Curry and Kyrie!

Starting the underlined players, the team competes with the original "Dream Team"

Paul George may deserve a spot because of the injury he incurred before the World Games, he also is the type of player that complements the megastars.

Draymond Green is such a fast rising star for doing everything a team needs to win, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make the roster.

[Edouble]

The official mini-camp list hath been released...

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news...ticipants.aspx

Former Olympic and World Championship participants
Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook

Former World Champions (not Olympians)
DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, Rudy Gay, Kyrie Irving, Mason Plumlee, Klay Thompson

Those trying to make a team for the first time:
LaMarcus Aldridge, John Wall, Chandler Parsons, Kawhi Leonard, Gordon Hayward, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Bradley Beal, Harrison Barnes, Jimmy Butler, Michael Carter-Williams, Mike Conley, Draymond Green, Tobias Harris, DeAndre Jordan, Victor Oladipo

An AWESOME collection of players!

Notable absentees - not necessarily surprises:
D. Wade, Derrick Rose, Millsap, Dame Lillard, Mike Conley, Jeff Teague, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry...also, absolutely no incoming rookies. This being K's last run, and likely the last run of a lot of these 10 year vets, this feels like a really seasoned veteran affair.

So, is the guy there or not?

[luburch]

So, is the guy there or not?

According to the press release I saw, he is there.

[Billy Dat]

So, is the guy there or not?

Ha - my bad, I need an editor and fact checker.

[David Bunkley]

Westbrook would be the 4th PG behind Paul, Curry and Kyrie!

I actually think Westbrook would be more of a two guard with this team and he makes the squad.

[David Bunkley]

Anthony Davis F/C
Carmelo Anthony F
Chris Paul G
Dwight Howard C
James Harden G
Kawhi Leonard F
Kevin Durant G/F
Kevin Love F/C
Kyrie Irving G
Lebron James F
Russell Westbrook G
Stephen Curry G/F

A defensive unit of Westbrook, Kawhi, LBJ, AD, and Dwight would be pretty darn scary.

[Troublemaker]

The official mini-camp list hath been released...

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news...ticipants.aspx

Former Olympic and World Championship participants
Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook

Former World Champions (not Olympians)
DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, Rudy Gay, Kyrie Irving, Mason Plumlee, Klay Thompson

Those trying to make a team for the first time:
LaMarcus Aldridge, John Wall, Chandler Parsons, Kawhi Leonard, Gordon Hayward, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Bradley Beal, Harrison Barnes, Jimmy Butler, Michael Carter-Williams, Mike Conley, Draymond Green, Tobias Harris, DeAndre Jordan, Victor Oladipo

An AWESOME collection of players!

Notable absentees - not necessarily surprises:
D. Wade, Derrick Rose, Millsap, Dame Lillard, Mike Conley, Jeff Teague, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry...also, absolutely no incoming rookies. This being K's last run, and likely the last run of a lot of these 10 year vets, this feels like a really seasoned veteran affair.

Wow. That is MUCH more participation from A-list stars than I expected (even given that some of these guys will drop out next summer due to injury/fatigue/etc).

The last hurrah for Coach K is probably the motivating factor here, right? This is massive respect shown for him, imo.

[luburch]

Figured I'd get in on the prediction action

2016 Prediction
Dwight Howard - C
Anthony Davis - F/C
Kevin Love - F/C
Blake Griffin - F
LeBron James - Every Position
Kevin Durant - F
Carmelo Anthony - F
Paul George - F
JamesHarden - G
Chris Paul - G
Stephen Curry - G
Kyrie Irving - G

The two picks I feel least confident in are Dwight Howard and Paul George. I think if PG was healthy then he would be a shoe-in, but him making it now would be a huge positive story. Realistically, Leonard probably takes his place.

[CDu]

Figured I'd get in on the prediction action

2016 Prediction
Dwight Howard - C
Anthony Davis - F/C
Kevin Love - F/C
Blake Griffin - F
LeBron James - Every Position
Kevin Durant - F
Carmelo Anthony - F
Paul George - F
JamesHarden - G
Chris Paul - G
Stephen Curry - G
Kyrie Irving - G

The two picks I feel least confident in are Dwight Howard and Paul George. I think if PG was healthy then he would be a shoe-in, but him making it now would be a huge positive story. Realistically, Leonard probably takes his place.

I don't see how Westbrook, who is a better PG than Irving and has more experience with the national team, doesn't make it. I would also be surprised if we have just 4 guards on the team. On that list, I would say George probably doesn't make it and Westbrook does.

[Billy Dat]

Wow. That is MUCH more participation from A-list stars than I expected (even given that some of these guys will drop out next summer due to injury/fatigue/etc).
The last hurrah for Coach K is probably the motivating factor here, right? This is massive respect shown for him, imo.

I am surprised too, and I think the K finale is part of it, but I think the larger aspect is that it is a very likely FIBA goodbye for Lebron, CP3 and Melo, the generation that put Team USA back on top. 1992 will always be a singular moment in time, but this potential squad is so freakin awesome that maybe it's a little bit of, "24 years later, we are going to show that the US is nearly as better at basketball than the rest of the World as we have always been!". Maybe it's the party no one wants to miss?

I don't see how Westbrook, who is a better PG than Irving and has more experience with the national team, doesn't make it. I would also be surprised if we have just 4 guards on the team. On that list, I would say George probably doesn't make it and Westbrook does.

I was about to say the same thing. I haven't done a complete analysis to see if I think they can both make it, but I can't see Kyrie winning that head-to-head. Westbrook is too much of an overall athletic FREAK. So much of our K-developed Team USA style is "shock and awe", we leverage our insane athletic advantage by pressuring relentlessly on both ends until the opponent wilts. Westbrook is the definition of that kind of style.

[sagegrouse]

Figured I'd get in on the prediction action

2016 Prediction
Dwight Howard - C
Anthony Davis - F/C
Kevin Love - F/C
Blake Griffin - F
LeBron James - Every Position
Kevin Durant - F
Carmelo Anthony - F
Paul George - F
JamesHarden - G
Chris Paul - G
Stephen Curry - G
Kyrie Irving - G

The two picks I feel least confident in are Dwight Howard and Paul George. I think if PG was healthy then he would be a shoe-in, but him making it now would be a huge positive story. Realistically, Leonard probably takes his place.

Looking at your list, I think (as you do) that Paul George is unlikely. Then there are those on the back side of their careers, who may slip off the back of the truck: Dwight Howard? Melo? Chris Paul maybe, but he and K are pretty close, and K likes a "coach on the floor" on the roster.

I'd also look to the possibility of youth: Karl-Anthony Towns (who I believe is eligible as an American) or Jahlil Okafor or maybe even a resurgent Jabari Parker. Or some new kid who breaks through next season in either college or pros. Gotta think about 2020 (although I am personally trying not to).