2016 Olympic BB Team Roster

[BD80]

Without Coach K, there may not be the same cache - kind of like the downswing after the "dream team."

Kobe is certainly not in and it looks like Lebron "has had a good run":

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...-2016/related/

Bosch and Wade are unlikely due to age, as is Chandler. Howard is always a question mark. Derrick Rose will probably want to get back in, but once injured there are always concerns.

I think Melo was a key member of this team, but I doubt he returns without Boeheim. Melo, Lebron, Durant and Kobe created match-up issues with their length and strength.

I don't think Harden, Iguodola or Westbrook matter. There will be no shortage of great point guards: Paul, Rose, Irving, Wall.

Anthony Davis is a centerpiece of the next team - pardon the pun. Love was a great addition, but will he be willing to play second fiddle in 4 years?

Durant is a key, does he sign on again?

Rio will be a great party, which may entice some guys on the fence, but I would guess new members would have to play on the national team in the 2014 world games to earn a spot.

Who signs on? There will be loads of pressure to live up to the restored standard, and no Coach K or Lebron or Kobe to lead. Egos can sneak back into the program.

[OldPhiKap]

Without Coach K, there may not be the same cache - kind of like the downswing after the "dream team."

Kobe is certainly not in and it looks like Lebron "has had a good run":

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...-2016/related/

Bosch and Wade are unlikely due to age, as is Chandler. Howard is always a question mark. Derrick Rose will probably want to get back in, but once injured there are always concerns.

I think Melo was a key member of this team, but I doubt he returns without Boeheim. Melo, Lebron, Durant and Kobe created match-up issues with their length and strength.

I don't think Harden, Iguodola or Westbrook matter. There will be no shortage of great point guards: Paul, Rose, Irving, Wall.

Anthony Davis is a centerpiece of the next team - pardon the pun. Love was a great addition, but will he be willing to play second fiddle in 4 years?

Durant is a key, does he sign on again?

Rio will be a great party, which may entice some guys on the fence, but I would guess new members would have to play on the national team in the 2014 world games to earn a spot.

Who signs on? There will be loads of pressure to live up to the restored standard, and no Coach K or Lebron or Kobe to lead. Egos can sneak back into the program.

Kyrie and CP as the points, it will be an incredible team. Gotta figure Durant and Lebron will be back.

[tommy]

Without Coach K, there may not be the same cache - kind of like the downswing after the "dream team."

Kobe is certainly not in and it looks like Lebron "has had a good run":

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...-2016/related/

Bosch and Wade are unlikely due to age, as is Chandler. Howard is always a question mark. Derrick Rose will probably want to get back in, but once injured there are always concerns.

I think Melo was a key member of this team, but I doubt he returns without Boeheim. Melo, Lebron, Durant and Kobe created match-up issues with their length and strength.

I don't think Harden, Iguodola or Westbrook matter. There will be no shortage of great point guards: Paul, Rose, Irving, Wall.

Anthony Davis is a centerpiece of the next team - pardon the pun. Love was a great addition, but will he be willing to play second fiddle in 4 years?

Durant is a key, does he sign on again?

Rio will be a great party, which may entice some guys on the fence, but I would guess new members would have to play on the national team in the 2014 world games to earn a spot.

Who signs on? There will be loads of pressure to live up to the restored standard, and no Coach K or Lebron or Kobe to lead. Egos can sneak back into the program.

Of those who couldn't play this year, I would certainly expect Rose, Howard, and Blake Griffin to be involved. Of those that did play this time, I'd be surprised if we didn't see Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Love, and Davis return. And I think Kyrie will be there. If I'm right about those guys, that's 9 guys right there in the mix, with most of them shoo-ins. I'd say LaMarcus Aldridge is likely too.

It so far out though. Not only are there current pros like Wall, Steph Curry, Rondo, Bynum, Rudy Gay, DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, and others that would be considered, but there are so many college players who will have some years as pros under their belts by that time, and even a few currently in high school may prove worthy of consideration. And who knows who will be derailed by injury, regression in quality of play, or just decide they're not interested for one of a number of possible reasons.

[COYS]

Of those who couldn't play this year, I would certainly expect Rose, Howard, and Blake Griffin to be involved. Of those that did play this time, I'd be surprised if we didn't see Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Love, and Davis return. And I think Kyrie will be there. If I'm right about those guys, that's 9 guys right there in the mix, with most of them shoo-ins. I'd say LaMarcus Aldridge is likely too.

It so far out though. Not only are there current pros like Wall, Steph Curry, Rondo, Bynum, Rudy Gay, DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, and others that would be considered, but there are so many college players who will have some years as pros under their belts by that time, and even a few currently in high school may prove worthy of consideration. And who knows who will be derailed by injury, regression in quality of play, or just decide they're not interested for one of a number of possible reasons.

You gotta think Greg Monroe will be in the mix, as well. Personally, I think Lebron will be back. He'll be older, but he's in such superb physical shape I think it's reasonable to think he'll still be in his prime years. I didn't interpret his "good run" comment to mean he was finished with Olympic basketball. I think he was allowing himself to relax and enjoy the fact that he won an NBA Title and his second Olympic Gold as the unquestioned leader of both teams.

While point guard looks to be a deep position for Team USA, I think this is where the biggest question marks lie. Williams and Paul will be on the wrong side of 30. Small guards like Paul are also prone to relatively fast declines (I'm not saying Paul will no longer be elite, but there's no guarantee). Westbrook will probably be there, but he would have to improve his distribution immensely to be the number 1 choice. Despite the differences in the way they are perceived, Rose and Westbrook are very similar players, with Rose being only slightly better as a distributor, although Rose does have experience being "The Man" for his team. Rose currently has a more inconsistent outside shot and will be recovering from a serious injury. It mind sound like a homer comment, but I think that Kyrie will be an important cog in the team if he can improve his distribution skills. Kyrie adds excellent outside shooting to the mix at point guard. He's currently not better as an assist man than either Rose or Westbrook. However, if he improves that aspect of his game, he might actually be the best option. I would not be surprised to see Rose, Westbrook and Kyrie as the three PG on the next Team USA roster. If Rose recovers from his injury and all three improve, the USA will be in great shape. But I do think that Kyrie's shooting ability will be important to add to the PG pool in 2016.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I am a believer in the 2-gold rule - players will return unless they have 2 golds. Considering Kobe, Lebron, Melo, CP3, and DWill have 2 golds, a lot of players on this team want to emulate that success. IMO, Durant and Love will be back. Those two players will create the cornerstone for 2016. Furthermore, I feel that Westbrook, Davis, and possibly Harden will be back. Also, I don't think that aging superstars will play unless Lebron, Melo, and a few others aren't on that list (hence I don't include Dwight, Wade, Bosh, etc). Here are a select number of new players, with obvious reasons, who will probably be on that list:

-Rose: didn't get his chance this year, dying to be on the 2016 team. However, this is conditional on whether his explosiveness comes back
-Kyrie: if my theory is correct and both CP3 and DWill are out, Rose poses as the only true threat. I hope that Kyrie's history of freak accidents don't come back to bite him in the arse.
-Aldridge:Solid PF who will play C on Team USA.
-Griffin: Explosive PF who will destroy opponents and strike fear into centers not wanting to be youtubed
-Bynum: Great center who will probably be better than Davis at this point
-Some combination of MarShon Brooks, Harden, Curry, Michael Kidd Gilchrist, and some other wings who I can't think of right now)

The PG, PF, and C positions will be set for 2016. Ironically, it's the wings - an area that Team USA hasn't had issues with in the past - which will be harder to select.

On the plus side, Team USA doesn't need to be as good as this year. Why? With Parker, Pau Gasol, Navarro, essentially the whole Brazil team, Nowitzki, Kirelinko, Calderon, Scola, Ginoblli, and a whole slew of other NBA players being too old to play in the next Olympics, I don't think the international talent will be as good. Also, despite a lot of young international players in the NBA right now, there isn't a strong list of candidates to help fill the retiring international talent.

[CDu]

I am a believer in the 2-gold rule - players will return unless they have 2 golds. Considering Kobe, Lebron, Melo, CP3, and DWill have 2 golds, a lot of players on this team want to emulate that success. IMO, Durant and Love will be back. Those two players will create the cornerstone for 2016. Furthermore, I feel that Westbrook, Davis, and possibly Harden will be back. Also, I don't think that aging superstars will play unless Lebron, Melo, and a few others aren't on that list (hence I don't include Dwight, Wade, Bosh, etc). Here are a select number of new players, with obvious reasons, who will probably be on that list:

-Rose: didn't get his chance this year, dying to be on the 2016 team. However, this is conditional on whether his explosiveness comes back
-Kyrie: if my theory is correct and both CP3 and DWill are out, Rose poses as the only true threat. I hope that Kyrie's history of freak accidents don't come back to bite him in the arse.
-Aldridge:Solid PF who will play C on Team USA.
-Griffin: Explosive PF who will destroy opponents and strike fear into centers not wanting to be youtubed
-Bynum: Great center who will probably be better than Davis at this point
-Some combination of MarShon Brooks, Harden, Curry, Michael Kidd Gilchrist, and some other wings who I can't think of right now)

The PG, PF, and C positions will be set for 2016. Ironically, it's the wings - an area that Team USA hasn't had issues with in the past - which will be harder to select.

On the plus side, Team USA doesn't need to be as good as this year. Why? With Parker, Pau Gasol, Navarro, essentially the whole Brazil team, Nowitzki, Kirelinko, Calderon, Scola, Ginoblli, and a whole slew of other NBA players being too old to play in the next Olympics, I don't think the international talent will be as good. Also, despite a lot of young international players in the NBA right now, there isn't a strong list of candidates to help fill the retiring international talent.

I would expect one of Paul and Williams to still be on the team. The new Olympic approach values continuity and experience, and I don't see them going with just Westbrook as the only returning Olympian at PG. That is especially true if Rose (who does have the World Championship experience) doesn't return to form. I agree that the question marks may be at the wing spots, but I think there will be plenty of options available (it would be quite surprising if there aren't a multitude of star wing players available in 4 years).

That being said, it's hard to predict who will be on the Olympic roster. Four years ago, how many people would have predicted that Chandler, Love, Westbrook, Harden, or Davis would be on the team? Almost half of the 2012 roster would have a surprise as of 2008. I suspect at least 3-4 players will be surprises in 2016 as well.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I would expect one of Paul and Williams to still be on the team. The new Olympic approach values continuity and experience, and I don't see them going with just Westbrook as the only returning Olympian at PG. That is especially true if Rose (who does have the World Championship experience) doesn't return to form. I agree that the question marks may be at the wing spots, but I think there will be plenty of options available (it would be quite surprising if there aren't a multitude of star wing players available in 4 years).

CP3 will be 31 and DWill will be 33 in 32 - they aren't spring chickens anymore. It's possible that one of them makes it, but my money isn't on either. They've both solidified their legacy for the international game and would probably miss playing with LBJ, Melo, and co (who wouldn't). And I agree that in 4 years, the landscape for US wing players will be completely different. But right now, it's a little hard to see who will succeed and who won't succeed.

[CDu]

CP3 will be 31 and DWill will be 33 in 32 - they aren't spring chickens anymore. It's possible that one of them makes it, but my money isn't on either. They've both solidified their legacy for the international game and would probably miss playing with LBJ, Melo, and co (who wouldn't). And I agree that in 4 years, the landscape for US wing players will be completely different. But right now, it's a little hard to see who will succeed and who won't succeed.

The 2008 team had a 35 year old Kidd. The 2012 had a 33 year old Bryant. I see no reason why the 2016 team wouldn't have a 31 year old Paul or a 32 year old Williams, unless both of them simply decide not to play again. The possibility that both decide not to return is greater than the possibility that the selection committee views them as too old.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The 2008 team had a 35 year old Kidd. The 2012 had a 33 year old Bryant. I see no reason why the 2016 team wouldn't have a 31 year old Paul or a 32 year old Williams, unless both of them simply decide not to play again. The possibility that both decide not to return is greater than the possibility that the selection committee views them as too old.

Completely agree and I should have been more clear on that. I just feel that they have nothing left to prove. If they decide to join, great! They can certainly take that role of Kidd or Bryant as the elderly statesman. But, with two Olympics already under their belt, I'm not sure they'll be interested. Both Kidd and Bryant won two golds; I feel that this '2 gold medal' theory will prevent either of them from partaking again. Clearly, this is both completely speculative. But if neither decide to join, the PG position is already strong with a mix of Rose, Irving, Westbrook (probably better as a SG in the games), and Wall.

[sagegrouse]

There are six players 31 or 32 who could be the heart of the 2016 team:

Lebron
Paul
DWill
Carmelo
Howard
Bosh

I doubt the USA has six players over 30, but I think 3-4 of these will be on the team. (I am excluding 30-something players Kobe and Wade on the basis of age.)

I think these three 2012 selectees are mortal locks for 2016 barring injury or an unexpected fall off in play:

Durant
Love
Griffin

We could probably add Anthony Davis to the list, although I would prefer to see him play in the NBA before giving him a spot on the team.

That leaves 4-6 spots open. Harden, Westbrook, Iguadola (32 in 2016) and Chandler (31) will have their chances, but will have to make the team all over again. There will be plenty of room for Rose, Kyrie and other younger stars.

sagegrouse

[JasonEvans]

There has been a lot of buzz that LeBron wants to become the first person to win 3 Gold Medals in basketball. It has never been done before. Barring injury, I think he is a lock for the 2016 team. He would only be 31.

-Jason

[Dev11]

Names I heard thrown out during the telecast: Doc Rivers (he sounded really excited about the opportunity during the postgame discussion with Dan Patrick), Doug Collins (damn the Soviets), Gregg Poppovich. Any others? Reasons why any of those guys stand out? Roy Williams? How do you say 'dadgumit' in Portugese? So many questions

[Billy Dat]

There has been a lot of buzz that LeBron wants to become the first person to win 3 Gold Medals in basketball. It has never been done before. Barring injury, I think he is a lock for the 2016 team. He would only be 31.

Some of the Team USA women must have 3 Golds, right? They've now won 5 Golds in a row, I have to assume Lisa Leslie has at least 3, if not 4. If you meant men, then, yes, I agree, Lebron, CP3, Deron and Melo would have some serious motivation.

Names I heard thrown out during the telecast: Doc Rivers (he sounded really excited about the opportunity during the postgame discussion with Dan Patrick), Doug Collins (damn the Soviets), Gregg Poppovich. Any others? Reasons why any of those guys stand out? Roy Williams? How do you say 'dadgumit' in Portugese? So many questions

I don't think Doug Collins is right for the job at all. He has a rep as a guy who can't ease off the gas. Among the things K demonstrated with this team, he makes them accountable but doesn't berate or scold. I think he basically stays cool. I think that's why so many people think Phil Jackson would have been great (I agree). I think it's Pop or Doc, and I give Doc the inside track because Colangelo and Pop have a bad history tied to Team USA (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-popovich103107) and, aside from his credentials, Rivers has, perhaps, the most important qualification...he's a Chicago guy.

As for the potential 2016 roster, forget 2016. Team USA's next big gig is the World Championships in 2014 which, by the way, are just as fun to follow as the Olympics and is a tougher, more competitive tournament with more teams. Granted, the players seem to be more interested in the Olympics, but the World Championship is the more prestigious title worldwide. The only potential 2012 guys on the 2014 team, to me, will be Anthony Davis, assuming he has a solid first two years, and James Harden who may use the opportunity to deepen his team equity and role with the National Team. Because of the coaching turnover, don't be surprised if they decide to have a week long Team USA summer camp in 2013, like they did in 2009, to continue vetting players and shaping the 2014 team. I think the 2014 squad starts with this year's Select Team plus Davis and Harden. If we want to look ahead to 2016, Lebron-CP3-Deron-Melo are kind of a package. If you strip away that experience and leadership, the next package is Durant-Westbrook-Love, the 2010-2012 crew. If we have one group or the other, I think we're in good shape. It'll be interesting to see which countries can stay at the elite level. Spain and Argentina have a ton of aging talent to replace. Russia and Brazil are a little younger, but their best players are still getting older.

[ChillinDuke]

Names I heard thrown out during the telecast: Doc Rivers (he sounded really excited about the opportunity during the postgame discussion with Dan Patrick), Doug Collins (damn the Soviets), Gregg Poppovich. Any others? Reasons why any of those guys stand out? Roy Williams? How do you say 'dadgumit' in Portugese? So many questions

At first glance Collins strikes me as the most likely candidate. He has previous Olympic participation (as a player) in '72 in which the USA lost a controversial gold medal game to the Soviet Union. He has connections with Coach K (through his son Chris as well as general basketball acquaintance) which leads me to believe he would have support from the retiring regime. He was asked to speak to the 2012 team in Vegas before the Olympics. And many (most?) on the 2012 team came over to shake his hand at the announcers' table after they had won indicating their respect for him.

I think Doug Collins would be a wonderful pick for 2016. My second choice would be Gregg Poppovich who I think is a superb basketball coach.

Depending on how the next few years go, Izzo and Self may be on the short list although I'd put them a tier below Collins/Popp/Rivers on the desirable scale. I like Tom Thibodeau too but doubt he'd be given much consideration, if any.

- Chillin

[Dev11]

As for the potential 2016 roster, forget 2016. Team USA's next big gig is the World Championships in 2014 which, by the way, are just as fun to follow as the Olympics and is a tougher, more competitive tournament with more teams.

Thanks for the thoughts on Collins, and good point here. K made a big deal out of making players commit to the program from the Worlds through the Olympics (wish we could have that much commitment in college, sigh), and I imagine his and Colangelo's successors will try to emulate the winning model as much as possible. With the exception of Anthony Davis, who was a last-minute addition anyway, all of the 2012 guys were at least in the system in 2010 right?

[Billy Dat]

Thanks for the thoughts on Collins, and good point here. K made a big deal out of making players commit to the program from the Worlds through the Olympics (wish we could have that much commitment in college, sigh), and I imagine his and Colangelo's successors will try to emulate the winning model as much as possible. With the exception of Anthony Davis, who was a last-minute addition anyway, all of the 2012 guys were at least in the system in 2010 right?

Aside from Davis, I am not sure that Harden was ever on a Select Team. The rest of the players were on either the '08 Olympic team or the 2010 World Champions. I think Colangelo has committed to being with the program through the Olympics in 2016 so that will provide crucial continuity. It will be a huge undertaking to keep this machine rolling, maybe even harder than getting back up the mountain from 2005-2008. Aside from the Colangelo/K partnership needing to be replicated - no small IF - a big key will be the experienced guys wanting to keep coming back. The 2010 World Title was so amazing, and demonstrated the USA's insane depth of talent, because it was a completely new group...but they were guys who had been on Select Teams. The program that Colangelo and K built leverages that depth. We always need a pool of ~30 players to make sure we have 12 who are able to play and good enough to win. As Durant proved in 2010, it also seems vital that at least 1-2 of those 12 be among the 5 best players in the NBA. It really is an amazing fact that putting the full force of our powers behind the National team, we can still lose. If we are able to keep the National team humming the way it has over the past 7 years, with the best American players and coaches having comfort with FIBA style ball and officiating, it will be interesting to see when our next loss will come...for it will come...and that will be another one of those landmark moments.

[BlueDevil16]

Gotta think J. Parker will get a spot if hes as good as advertised.

[Big Pappa]

I think these three 2012 selectees are mortal locks for 2016 barring injury or an unexpected fall off in play:

Durant
Love
Griffin

We could probably add Anthony Davis to the list, although I would prefer to see him play in the NBA before giving him a spot on the team.

That leaves 4-6 spots open. Harden, Westbrook, Iguadola (32 in 2016) and Chandler (31) will have their chances, but will have to make the team all over again. There will be plenty of room for Rose, Kyrie and other younger stars.

Rose is certainly in if he wants to and is healthy. He would have been on this team if he was. Another name to remember is Eric Gordon who, even though he was coming off injury, almost made this team. He'll be 27 in Rio.

An interesting group to consider are current HS players. I could see Shabazz Muhammad (assuming he's one and done he'll have been in the league three years) in the mix as well as Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, and Andrew Wiggins (assuming Wiggins reclassifies and they all go one and done, they would have been in the league for two years before Rio).

[sagegrouse]

An interesting group to consider are current HS players. I could see Shabazz Muhammad (assuming he's one and done he'll have been in the league three years) in the mix as well as Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, and Andrew Wiggins (assuming Wiggins reclassifies and they all go one and done, they would have been in the league for two years before Rio).

I think Andrew Wiggins is a mortal lock -- for team Canada!

sage

[roywhite]

I think Andrew Wiggins is a mortal lock -- for team Canada!

sage

yeah, I'd say; he's 17 now, but should be on his way to a very good NBA career by 2016, judging by current evaluations.

By the way, if I understand the story correctly, Kyrie Irving nearly went to the Australian national team this past cycle, and was talked out of it by Coach K (looking ahead to a good chance Kyrie can be key for future USA teams).
Yet another Coach K legacy to the national team.