The members of the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Paris this summer have arrived in Las Vegas, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Team USA will hold a pre-Olympic camp in Vegas from July 6-8 and will be joined by a 15-man Select Team for scrimmaging purposes.
Led by LeBron James (two Olympic gold medals, 20 All-Star berths) and Kevin Durant (three gold medals, 14 All-Star berths), the 12-man Olympic roster is as formidable as any team USA Basketball has fielded in the 21st century, with 84 combined All-Star nods. It will make picking a starting lineup a challenging task for head coach Steve Kerr.
“It’s a good problem to have,” Kerr said on Friday, per Reynolds. “I’m guessing that all 12 players on this roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday. So, how do you pick five out of 12? The idea is, you find combinations that click, and you find two-way lineups that can be effective at both ends. Our big job in Las Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit and to just ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who’s playing.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Expect NBA teams to include unlikely incentives less frequently in player contracts going forward, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Those unlikely bonuses don’t count against the cap if they’re not earned, but they do count when determining a team’s position relative to the tax aprons, giving high-spending teams less wiggle room below those aprons. For instance, the Heat – who are operating in between the first and second aprons – would presumably prefer not to have to account for the $1.5MM unlikely bonus Tyler Herro would earn for winning Defensive Player of the Year.
- With the Bulls, Magic, Nets, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, and Hawks among the teams announcing their Summer League rosters on Friday, Brett Siegel of Clutch Points has updated his tracker of the Summer League squads from around the NBA.
- While no concrete decisions have been made yet about next year’s draft schedule, the expectation is that the NBA will want the second round (ie. the second day) to start in the evening instead of the afternoon, Marc Stein writes at his Substack. The second day of the 2024 draft began at 4:00 pm Eastern time on June 27 so as not to compete with the U.S. presidential debate that was scheduled for that evening.
- There had been some speculation in the spring that Walter Tavares might try to make an NBA comeback this summer, but the former Hawks and Cavaliers big man – who has been a star in Europe since 2017 – won’t be going anywhere, having signed a five-year contract with Real Madrid, the Spanish team announced in a press release. The all-time EuroLeague blocks leader, Tavares has won a pair of EuroLeague championships with Madrid in 2018 and 2023.
Looking down the list, there are some stacked summer league teams; I would assume some of those guys are there for 1-2 games, or just for practice purposes, but you can already envision a few spots where teams need help, and who might make their rosters
This is the last ride for the old heads on USA, they are all going to start regardless of it being right or not. The Olympics is a business too so you have to put the star power out there.
James, Curry and Durant for sure but Leonard, Tatum, Embiid and Davis are going to hard to choose between.
I think Tatum and Embiid get the starts. Joel and AD can flip each game for health concerns.
I’m actually looking forward to watching USA Olympic team play. The gap is closing and some really good teams in the field(Canada is one of them)
Speaking of Team USA, AJ Dybantsa & Cameron Boozer were DOMINANT this morning vs Myles Sadler & Canada at the U17 World Cup in Istanbul. Much like this US Olympic men’s team has a strong argument as the best senior men’s team in history, I’d say this U17 roster is as strong or stronger than any other junior men’s team in history. Possible exception is the U19 team that had Cade, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Green/Suggs, etc… link to m.youtube.com
I think it Will be
Steph, KD, Lebron, Tatum and Embiid.
I first thought it would be AD starting, in any scenario, but I think they need Joel to bang with the big centers around the world.
Joel is a way better player than AD, he would only not start if he still isnt 100%. Same goes for Kawhi and Tatum.
Led by LeBron and KD? LMAO Steph is clearly the best player but I guess he is used to being underrated for his whole career