Team USA training camp in Las Vegas recently concluded, with the events of the final day overshadowing the entire week. Team decision makers put a hold on all activity in the aftermath of Paul George's injury, but they did make choices for the next phase of the team's preparations. In addition to George's unavailability, John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Paul Millsap were cut. Two of those players were late additions to the training camp roster. With the health of Derrick Rose up in the air prior to training camp, Wall had an opportunity to be a part of the team, but he did not outshine the tough competition for the point guard position. Bradley Beal was one of the younger players selected and he certainly seems to factor into the team in the future, but against a number of other strong shooters, he might not have been ready to fulfill the needs of this particular roster. Paul Millsap volunteered to join the team after other post players made themselves unavailable, but was unable to crack the group, which also now includes Mason Plumlee, who played his way into consideration after good work as a member of the Select Team brought in to test the team in practices.
With 16 players, the team is in the middle of a period of rest before the next set of practices. The team reconvenes in Chicago in the middle of the month for two days of training before they play their first game against another team on August 16th against Brazil. From there on, the team will be kept busy daily through the conclusion of the tournament in Spain. All of the players are likely to have at least some chances in the three exhibitions in the United States and the team will likely to keep more than the final 12 players around to make sure that they have the ability to make quick last minute changes if necessary.
After the first set of practices in Las Vegas, the roster is beginning to take shape and some ideas of how the final rotation may look are starting to be seen with a few key positional battles still to come. The current roster still has four players who play point guard for their NBA teams. Typical international rosters have at least three players who can run the offense, but size and shooting ability of the players available mean that Stephen Curry in particular can slide over to the shooting guard position. Paul George, who was presumably the starting small forward before his injury, will need to be replaced on both the offensive and defensive ends. DeMar DeRozan, the late roster addition who is still in contention, seems to have played his way into consideration. Players like Klay Thompson and Kyle Korver will be looking for a key offensive role, especially from a bench spot. As has been the case in recent editions of the team, positional versatility is coveted, with players like Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward having the ability to play up a position internationally compared to their NBA roles. If Kevin Durant starts as a power forward, it cuts into potential roles for the four remaining big men behind Durant and Anthony Davis. Each of them bring different skill sets to the position and ultimately it will be their ability to fit into specific roles that will allow them to make the final roster.
Injuries, of course, have become the main storyline of the international basketball season in this country. The entire international basketball situation is more complicated than can be addressed in some of the brief formats that key figures have been using to put forth their beliefs. There are many aspects to the United States participating as a member of the international basketball community and the NBA is involved on a number of different levels. It is worth noting that the NBA has already extracted more concessions from FIBA than other leagues for the participation of their players. While most international coaches would like to have long training camps, NBA players are limited in when they can join a team before a tournament and they are exempted from the longer practices and two a day workouts that most of their countrymen endure. In deference to the NBA and the players, USA Basketball already has the least amount of preparation of any of the teams that they will be facing, both in practice time and in exhibition games. With the team's recent success in world tournaments, they have only had to play competitive games every other year instead of every summer like most of the other elite teams in the world. In fact, Mexico will have two NBA players play in two competitive tournaments this summer, one of them just to qualify for a tournament next summer to keep their Olympic hopes alive.
After the United States had several poor showings relative to talent level in the early 2000s, they made a concerted effort to reclaim the top spot in international play, which it did in 2008, defending their throne in 2010 and 2012. The fact is that the United States needs their NBA players to ensure that they win these games. Even though other teams may not have the same degree of raw talent, their tactical advantages, familiarity with rules differences, and greater experience in playing as a team have allowed several other teams to test the United States. Further specific restrictions on the United States team make it more difficult for the team to win tournaments. It is no longer possible for any assembled group of American players to beat their peers from other countries. If winning continues to be important to the stakeholders of American basketball, the team will continue to need the time and player availability to accomplish those goals.
The United States national team is not the only one relying on NBA players. With the continued international influence on the NBA, several star players regularly play for their national teams during the summer. While owners might be able to find ways to restrict USA Basketball participation further, it will be much more difficult for the league to do with international players, especially since their countries rely on them so heavily. Hurting the reputation of the NBA overseas seems to be the exact opposite of their goals with the NBA realizing how important their international appeal is, and harming international basketball is likely to remove some of the goodwill built up over time. Only restricting American players from participating while allowing international players to do so would cause another set of public relations issues. Some players might then also take options that they have for representing another country. For example, Kyrie Irving could have represented Australia and Klay Thompson could have represented the Bahamas. Although international basketball is not currently perfect, the NBA alone is not capable of fixing all of the issues. Working to resolve those issues without removing the existing tradition and negatively affecting countries all across the talent spectrum should be the goal.
With 16 players, the team is in the middle of a period of rest before the next set of practices. The team reconvenes in Chicago in the middle of the month for two days of training before they play their first game against another team on August 16th against Brazil. From there on, the team will be kept busy daily through the conclusion of the tournament in Spain. All of the players are likely to have at least some chances in the three exhibitions in the United States and the team will likely to keep more than the final 12 players around to make sure that they have the ability to make quick last minute changes if necessary.
After the first set of practices in Las Vegas, the roster is beginning to take shape and some ideas of how the final rotation may look are starting to be seen with a few key positional battles still to come. The current roster still has four players who play point guard for their NBA teams. Typical international rosters have at least three players who can run the offense, but size and shooting ability of the players available mean that Stephen Curry in particular can slide over to the shooting guard position. Paul George, who was presumably the starting small forward before his injury, will need to be replaced on both the offensive and defensive ends. DeMar DeRozan, the late roster addition who is still in contention, seems to have played his way into consideration. Players like Klay Thompson and Kyle Korver will be looking for a key offensive role, especially from a bench spot. As has been the case in recent editions of the team, positional versatility is coveted, with players like Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward having the ability to play up a position internationally compared to their NBA roles. If Kevin Durant starts as a power forward, it cuts into potential roles for the four remaining big men behind Durant and Anthony Davis. Each of them bring different skill sets to the position and ultimately it will be their ability to fit into specific roles that will allow them to make the final roster.
Injuries, of course, have become the main storyline of the international basketball season in this country. The entire international basketball situation is more complicated than can be addressed in some of the brief formats that key figures have been using to put forth their beliefs. There are many aspects to the United States participating as a member of the international basketball community and the NBA is involved on a number of different levels. It is worth noting that the NBA has already extracted more concessions from FIBA than other leagues for the participation of their players. While most international coaches would like to have long training camps, NBA players are limited in when they can join a team before a tournament and they are exempted from the longer practices and two a day workouts that most of their countrymen endure. In deference to the NBA and the players, USA Basketball already has the least amount of preparation of any of the teams that they will be facing, both in practice time and in exhibition games. With the team's recent success in world tournaments, they have only had to play competitive games every other year instead of every summer like most of the other elite teams in the world. In fact, Mexico will have two NBA players play in two competitive tournaments this summer, one of them just to qualify for a tournament next summer to keep their Olympic hopes alive.
After the United States had several poor showings relative to talent level in the early 2000s, they made a concerted effort to reclaim the top spot in international play, which it did in 2008, defending their throne in 2010 and 2012. The fact is that the United States needs their NBA players to ensure that they win these games. Even though other teams may not have the same degree of raw talent, their tactical advantages, familiarity with rules differences, and greater experience in playing as a team have allowed several other teams to test the United States. Further specific restrictions on the United States team make it more difficult for the team to win tournaments. It is no longer possible for any assembled group of American players to beat their peers from other countries. If winning continues to be important to the stakeholders of American basketball, the team will continue to need the time and player availability to accomplish those goals.
The United States national team is not the only one relying on NBA players. With the continued international influence on the NBA, several star players regularly play for their national teams during the summer. While owners might be able to find ways to restrict USA Basketball participation further, it will be much more difficult for the league to do with international players, especially since their countries rely on them so heavily. Hurting the reputation of the NBA overseas seems to be the exact opposite of their goals with the NBA realizing how important their international appeal is, and harming international basketball is likely to remove some of the goodwill built up over time. Only restricting American players from participating while allowing international players to do so would cause another set of public relations issues. Some players might then also take options that they have for representing another country. For example, Kyrie Irving could have represented Australia and Klay Thompson could have represented the Bahamas. Although international basketball is not currently perfect, the NBA alone is not capable of fixing all of the issues. Working to resolve those issues without removing the existing tradition and negatively affecting countries all across the talent spectrum should be the goal.
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