2020 Olympics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Community Shootaround: U.S. Olympic Team

July 13th, 2021 at 8:13am CST by Luke Adams

After losing their first exhibition game to Nigeria on Saturday, the U.S. men’s basketball team dropped its second pre-Olympics tune-up to Australia on Monday, falling 91-83 to the Boomers. Team USA has now lost four of its last five international contests with NBA players on the roster, dating back to the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, conditioning has been an issue for the USA team so far, as has rebounding — the roster is fairly undersized, especially with bigs like Bam Adebayo and Kevin Love playing sparingly.

Reinforcements will be coming for Tokyo, with three players who are participating in the NBA Finals – Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton – set to join the Olympic roster once the NBA season ends.

But it’s becoming increasingly clear that the gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world isn’t as significant as it once was, especially when the NBA veterans representing other international programs – including Australia – have spent so much more time playing together.

“We’re not just going to come out here, roll the ball out and beat these teams,” U.S. point guard Damian Lillard said after Monday’s loss. “We’ve got to play the right way, compete, and we’ve got to come out here to win and do everything to give ourselves our best chance to win. If we don’t, we can be beat.”

While Team USA will still be the overwhelming favorite to win the gold medal in Tokyo next month, the squad’s first two exhibition games have been a reminder that bringing home the gold isn’t a given.

France and the Czech Republic could give the U.S. some trouble in the round-robin group stage of the Olympic tournament, while Australia, Spain, Nigeria, and Slovenia (featuring Luka Doncic) are among the teams that could be threats to pull off an upset in the medal round.

We want to know what you think. Do you still expect the U.S. to win gold? Have these exhibition losses caused your confidence to waver? Do you believe there are flaws in the way the roster was constructed that could be exposed at the Olympics?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Olympic Notes: Johnson, Garland, Bey, Durant, Satoransky

July 10th, 2021 at 11:04am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs’ Keldon Johnson, Cavaliers’ Darius Garland and Pistons’ Saddiq Bey will move up from the U.S. Select Team and play for Team USA in exhibition games, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The trio will fill in for Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, who will join Team USA after the Finals. Johnson, Garland and Bey would be candidates to join Team USA for the Olympics if any players have to bow out.

Exhibition games in Las Vegas will begin on Saturday with a matchup against Nigeria.

We have more on the Olympics:

Select Team members Cameron Reynolds, Josh Magette, John Jenkins and Dakota Mathias will remain in Las Vegas and will be available for exhibition games, Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes. The pool of Select Team players has been reduced by injuries and COVID-19 protocols. Timberwolves big man Naz Reid suffered a minor injury in Thursday’s practice, Windhorst adds.
Nets superstar Kevin Durant will look to collect his third gold medal in Tokyo and he’s energized by that possibility, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. “I committed to USA Basketball when I was coming out of college,” Durant said. “And every chance that I can get that I’m healthy and my mind is in the right place to play basketball, I’m going to go out there and play. Finished the year off healthy, the regular season and the playoffs, so I felt it’d be cool to get a kickstart on next season by getting in shape a little earlier in the summer with Team USA.”
Bulls guard Zach LaVine will be facing backcourt partner Tomas Satoransky in Group A play and he’s looking forward to the matchup, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago relays. Satoransky will play for the Czech Republic, which is in Team USA’s Group along with Iran and France. “I’m looking forward to playing them and having some bragging rights,” LaVine said good-naturedly. “Hopefully, we really kick their butt.”

Olympic Notes: Bridges, Washington, Quickley, Stewart, Hernangomez

July 9th, 2021 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

Hornets forward Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington and Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley are no longer with the U.S. Select Team scrimmaging against Team USA’s Olympic roster in Las Vegas, tweets ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The three players have been removed from the mix due to the coronavirus protocols.

A person with knowledge of the situation told Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press that one of those three players tested positive for COVID-19, while the other two were deemed close contacts and are being held out for precautionary reasons. According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (via Twitter), Quickley entered the protocols for contact tracing purposes rather than a positive test, which suggests that one of the Hornets forwards was the player who tested positive.

Here’s more on the Olympics:

The U.S. Select Team is down another player, according to Windhorst, who tweets that Pistons center Isaiah Stewart suffered an ankle injury during a scrimmage and left the game to receive treatment. There’s no indication at this point that Stewart’s injury is a significant one.
Timberwolves forward Juan Hernangomez, who had been preparing to represent Spain in the Olympics, dislocated his left shoulder during an exhibition game and will miss the Tokyo games, Reynolds writes for The Associated Press. The Wolves put out a statement indicating they’re aware of Hernangomez’s injury, but there’s no timeline yet for his recovery and return to the court.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry said it was a “hard decision” not to play for Team USA at the Olympics this summer, but he has “no regrets at all” about opting to skip the event, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “You take everything into account,” said Curry, who has won a pair of FIBA World Cup gold medals but hasn’t played in the Olympics. “I take how I’m feeling physically, mentally, what’s happening around the league, all those things. It’s not one specific reason or a part of it, but just knowing at the end of the day do I want to play or not? And the answer was no at the end of the day. And getting ready for next season (with a) relatively quick turnaround is important to me and I have a plan of how to do that and get ready for when training camp starts.”

Central Notes: Love, Cunningham, Pistons’ Top Pick, Grant

July 8th, 2021 at 8:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Love was a controversial selection to Team USA and he’s eager to prove he can still be a high-level player for both the country and the Cavaliers, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Love appeared in just 25 games this season and hasn’t played in more than 60 games in any of the last five seasons.

“I’m very vocal about that in the public saying I wasn’t where I wanted to be, mostly for my team, my coaching staff and for the Cavs in general. For me to come here, I feel like I have a lot to prove, but I feel that way coming into every season,” Love said. “Obviously it’s been unlucky, unfortunate and there’s been injuries that have happened — you’ve seen this whole year that happened with guys — so for me, when I have something to prove it always blends for better basketball for me. Being around these guys I think it helps elevate my mindset and my game in a big way.”

We have from around the Central Division:

The Cavaliers are “definitely looking into” the possibility of trading with the Pistons for the No. 1 pick and drafting Cade Cunningham but the cost would be high, Fedor reports in a separate story. It’s speculated that the package Cleveland would have to give up would exceed what the 76ers traded in 2017 for the top pick. Philadelphia took Markelle Fultz after giving up the No. 3 pick and a 2018 first-rounder that had some protections attached. Cleveland might have to give up the No. 3 overall pick, an unprotected future first-rounder, and perhaps a good young player to entice Detroit.
Along those same lines, The Athletic’s James Edwards III takes a look at eight potential trade scenarios for the Pistons involving the top pick. His hypothetical offers include the Thunder trading the No. 6 pick and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as well as the Raptors dealing the No. 4 pick and OG Anunoby for the No. 1 pick, Mason Plumlee and Cory Joseph.
Jerami Grant was the final selection for Team USA and the Pistons forward sees his role as providing energy when he plays, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press tweets. “I’m going to be playing a lot of defense, hitting open shots, being aggressive when I get the opportunity,” he said.

Olympic Notes: Nigeria, Morris, Nnaji, Team USA

July 8th, 2021 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Nigerian national team, having originally invited more than 40 players to its training camp, has trimmed its roster to 15 players, according to an announcement earlier in the week (Twitter link).

Three more cuts will be required to set the official roster for the Tokyo Olympics, but it appears there will be no shortage of NBA players on the 12-man squad. Precious Achiuwa, KZ Okpala, Miye Oni, Josh Okogie, Jordan Nwora, Chimezie Metu, Jahlil Okafor, and Gabe Vincent remain in the mix for the final roster.

One notable player missing from that list is Monte Morris. According to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link), the Nuggets guard has been bothered by a nagging knee injury and wants to focus on getting fully healthy for the 2021/22 season. He’s sitting out of the Olympics for precautionary reasons.

Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji received consideration for Team Nigeria as well, according to Singer (Twitter link), but the 2020 first-rounder decided to focus on individual development this season. Nnaji has interest in representing Nigeria in future international competitions, Singer notes.

Here’s more on the Tokyo games:

Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich said on Wednesday that he has yet to decide on a captain for the U.S. squad (Twitter link via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press). Given his résumé, his veteran status, and his previous international experience, Kevin Durant seems like the most obvious choice, though Draymond Green and Damian Lillard could also be candidates.
Asked how likely it is that members of the U.S. Olympic squad will talk during the next month about teaming up in the NBA, Bradley Beal acknowledged that “probably a lot” of those conversations will take place. “Depends on who’s a free agent or not,” Beal said (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic). “But for the most part, we can’t mix that in right now. We’re focused on one goal at hand, and that’s bringing back a gold medal. Granted, we all have our respective, individual goals and talents once this is done. We can address those issues then.”
Organizers confirmed on Thursday that the Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators due to a recent increase in coronavirus cases in the area. Ayano Shimizu of Kyodo News has the full story.

Olympics Notes: Booker, Tatum, Durant, Edwards

July 7th, 2021 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

Despite his extended playoff run with the Suns, Devin Booker isn’t having any second thoughts about his Olympic commitment, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Booker told reporters today that even if the NBA Finals go to a seventh game, which would be played July 22, he plans to be in Japan for Team USA’s opener against France three days later.

“Next (plane) smoking. I’ll be there,” he said. “I’ll be there. But obviously not my main focus right now. I’ve reached out to Coach Pop (Gregg Popovich), I reached out to (Jerry) Colangelo just recently and then I told them I saw all the guys reported to Vegas, and any other place I would rather be is the Finals, but I would love to be there with the guys and I’ll be there soon.”

Booker may miss all of Team USA’s 13-day training camp, which began today at UNLV. The Americans, who are also without Bucks guards Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, will play exhibition games against Nigeria, Australia, Argentina and Spain before heading to Tokyo.

“Very important. Life goal of mine,” Booker said. “I’ve always said, I think it’s the most prestigious event that basketball can find. So to be a part of representing your country I think brings you to another stratosphere. Just thinking of the guys that have come before us and represented our country, and I don’t think there’s anything better than winning a gold medal.”

There’s more Olympics news to pass along:

Wearing No. 10 has been a tradition for Celtics forward Jayson Tatum in international basketball and it has taken on added significance following Kobe Bryant‘s death last year, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Bryant wore the number while winning gold medals in 2008 and 2012, and Tatum recognizes the importance behind it. “With this being the first Olympics since we lost him, it holds that much more value,” he said. “It’s not something I take lightly.”
Many were pleasantly surprised that Nets star Kevin Durant opted to play in the Olympics, and Popovich was especially delighted, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Popovich joked that he would have begged and cried to convince Durant to join the team, then said it shows the forward’s commitment to the game. Durant won gold medals in 2012 and 2016 and is 39-0 in FIBA competition.
Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards of the U.S. Select Team sprained his ankle today in a scrimmage with Team USA, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The injury, which happened when Edwards stepped on Draymond Green‘s foot, isn’t viewed as serious, but Edwards will be sidelined for the rest of camp.

12-Team Field Set For Tokyo Olympics

July 5th, 2021 at 8:30am CST by Luke Adams

Slovenia, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic have secured their spots in the men’s basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics, winning their respective qualifying tournaments over the weekend. NBA players Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Moritz Wagner (Germany), and Tomas Satoransky (Czech Republic) were the MVPs of their tournaments, tweets Marc Stein.

Those four teams will join the U.S., Spain, Australia, France, Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, and Japan to make up the 12-team field for the tournament.

The groups are as follows:

Group A: Czech Republic, France, Iran, United States
Group B: Australia, Germany, Italy, Nigeria
Group C: Argentina, Japan, Slovenia, Spain

The preliminary round will begin on July 24, with each team facing the other three clubs in its group once. Following the round-robin portion of the tournament, the top two teams in each group – along with the two highest-ranked third-place teams – will advance to the single-elimination quarterfinals.

Rosters for the Olympics haven’t been officially locked in yet, but we have a pretty good idea of what most of the squads will look like. Team USA will, of course, feature the most star-studded group, with Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Bradley Beal leading the way.

Three players participating in the NBA Finals – Devin Booker, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday – are expected to be part of the U.S. Olympic squad. It’s possible those Finals could run as late as July 22 if they go seven games, but even in that scenario, the plan is for those Suns and Bucks players to fly to Tokyo right away in the hopes of being available for the July 25 contest vs. France.

While the U.S. will be the heavy favorite and will have the most NBA stars on its roster, a number of other NBA players will be taking part in the tournament.

Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, and Matisse Thybulle are among the players representing Australia; Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, and Nicolas Batum are among those playing for France; Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe will suit up for Japan; Doncic will play for Slovenia; Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, and Juan Hernangomez are among the veterans in Spain’s player pool; and it sounds like Danilo Gallinari will play for Italy.

Nigeria, meanwhile, still has a ton of cuts to make, but could have as many as 10 NBA players on its roster for Tokyo, including Monte Morris, Josh Okogie, and Jahlil Okafor. For more details on the NBA players involved in the Olympics, check out the tracker from Albert De Roa of HoopsHype.

Serbia, Lithuania, Brazil, Croatia, Turkey, Greece, and Canada are among the notable programs that will miss out on the Tokyo Olympics. It was a particularly disappointing outcome for Team Canada, which lost to the Czech Republic in the semifinal of the qualifiers despite having eight current NBA players on its roster.

We won’t be closely covering the results of the Olympic tournament — the event overlaps with both the draft and free agency, so we’ll be busy focusing on the NBA. But we’ll keep an eye on Tokyo in case there are any injuries or other notable stories affecting the current NBA players involved in the games.

Olympic Notes: Gallinari, Italy, Slovenia, Germany

July 4th, 2021 at 5:16pm CST by JD Shaw

Hawks forward Danilo Gallinari is interested in playing for Italy during the Olympics this summer, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Gallinari is coming off a successful postseason run with Atlanta, averaging 12.8 points per game on 42% shooting from the field and 40.5% from deep.

“I still believe in the Olympics, and if the coach and federation give me the chance to go to the Olympics once we win this game today, I’d be honored to be a part of that team,” Gallinari said prior to the final game of the qualifying tournament in Serbia, according to Scotto.

Italy defeated Serbia in that qualifying game on Sunday, officially joining Australia, Nigeria and Germany in Group B for the Tokyo games.

Here are some other Olympic-related notes tonight:

Slovenia defeated Lithuania 96-85 to clinch a spot in the Olympics on Sunday, receiving a key performance from Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic in the outing, as relayed by the Associated Press and ESPN. Doncic finished with a triple-double, notching 31 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. “I don’t care about the MVP,” Doncic said. “We won here. We’re going to the Olympics, the first time in our country. It’s amazing. I think every kid dreams about being in the Olympics. I did, too. So, here we are. We fought really, really hard and I think we deserve to be here.”
Germany also qualified for the Olympic tournament on Sunday behind Moritz Wagner‘s 28 points, as relayed by Sportando. Germany defeated Brazil, which was led by Anderson Varejao‘s 14 points and four rebounds in the outing.
Greece and the Czech Republic are battling on Sunday night for the last spot in the 12-team Olympic men’s basketball tournament.

And-Ones: Australian Olympic Team, James, Missia-Dio, Spurs

July 3rd, 2021 at 11:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

Numerous current NBA players were named to the Australian national team’s final 12-man roster for the Olympics, ESPN’s Olgun Uluc tweets. The team is headlined by Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, Matisse Thybulle, Dante Exum and Josh Green.

Projected lottery pick Josh Giddey is not on the 12-man roster but has been named as one of three replacement players, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. Giddey will travel to Las Vegas for Australia’s exhibition games, Givony adds. He’s currently rated No. 9 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more from around the basketball world:

LeBron James passed on the Olympics this year and it’s unlikely he’ll play for Team USA again, managing director Jerry Colangelo said on ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin radio show (video link). “LeBron made choices these last couple of Olympics not to participate because he’s got a lot of things going on in his life,” Colangelo said. “So he put in his time, he made a contribution that is appreciated, but I think his time is over.” James’ last Olympic appearance came during the 2012 London Games.
Belgian forward Nathan Missia-Dio became the ninth player to sign with Overtime Elite, according to a league press release. The new development league will begin play in September. Missia-Dio, a 6’6” forward, played two seasons for Espoirs Limoges in France’s Elite U21 League. He is ranked 13th by Eurospects.com among international prospects born in 2004.
The Spurs are seeking a new naming-rights sponsor for their arena, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. Longtime sponsor AT&T won’t renew its current deal, which expires in the fall of 2022. AT&T has also sold off its 7.23% share of the team. Front Office Sports first reported the news.

Olympic Notes: Team USA, Randle, Simmons, Okogie, Senegal

June 29th, 2021 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has officially announced its 12-man roster for the Tokyo Olympics, and there are no surprises in the group. The 12 players on the squad are the same dozen that were reported earlier this month.

While it remains to be seen which players will emerge as the go-to crunch-time options for Team USA in Tokyo, Joe Vardon of The Athletic suggests that it’s easy to envision a starting lineup consisting of Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Draymond Green, Damian Lillard, and either Devin Booker or Bradley Beal, based on comments made on Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo on Monday.

As Vardon details, Colangelo spoke about virtually every player selected for the 12-man roster, explaining the Jerami Grant was selected for his “versatility,” while Kevin Love‘s past international experienced played a major part in his selection. According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Colangelo said that Knicks forward Julius Randle was one of the players who just missed the cut.

“Regardless of who you select, there’s always a few names that come up regarding why they aren’t there,” Colangelo said. “Randle was right there. He was one of our considerations. Especially when some of the injuries took place and we lost a few players.”

Here’s more on the Olympics and the qualifying tournaments, which get underway today:

As expected, Sixers guard Ben Simmons has opted against representing Australia at the Tokyo Olympics, the program confirmed in a press release. Simmons is focusing on his individual development this offseason, agent Rich Paul told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). “I have spoken with Ben and whilst we wanted him to be a part of our team, we understand and support his decision and he has made it clear that this is something that he wants to be a part of in the future,” Australia head coach Brian Goorjian said. “… The best thing for everybody right now is for him to go on and develop that skill package and improve in a couple of areas for his next season in the NBA, but the Boomers are always here for him.”
Timberwolves wing Josh Okogie has confirmed he’ll be part of the Nigerian team that competes in the Olympics next month (Twitter link). Nigeria’s preliminary roster included 49 names, which the program will have to pare down to 12 for Tokyo.
Senegal has withdrawn from the qualifying tournament in Serbia due to “COVID-19 related disruptions,” tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. As a result, Senegal will forfeit games to Puerto Rico and Italy, who will both advance to the next round of the qualifier.
Team Canada’s eight NBA players are easily the most of any team in the qualifiers, but they’ll need to rely on more than talent as they face international teams that have developed stronger chemistry, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.