Not only has the firing of Bucks coach Adrian Griffin made headlines in the USA, but also the announcement of Team USA’s roster for next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. This is of course the highlight after the NBA season and participating in the Olympics is an absolute dream for many players. The last games in Tokyo took place without spectators due to the corona pandemic and therefore did not have the same pull effect.
The USA Basketball Olympic squad includes 41 names and 12 of them will end up travelling to Paris. In this article, we take a look ahead to the summer and summarise the squad for you in addition to our daily NBA tips. There are some exciting names on this list and after only finishing 4th at the Basketball World Cup, they are looking for revenge. The NBA is of course the best league in the world today and that should finally be reflected in the national team.
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An overview of the provisional USA squad for the Olympics
As just mentioned, the player pool consists of 41 names and we would like to present the most important names here. In previous tournaments, the superstars you know from our NBA betting were not included and that should change in Paris. This reminds us of the “Redeem Team” from the 2008 Olympic Games, when they wanted to make up for their poor performance in 2004. Back then, the team included Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, which is of course a dream come true for us NBA fans. LeBron’s name also appears on the list in 2024 and that says everything about LeBron’s legendary status. The following players, among others, were nominated for the first squad:
Guards:
- Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
- Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns)
- Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks)
- Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks)
- De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings)
- Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers)
- Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks)
- Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves)
- Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
- James Harden (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Jrue Holiday (Boston Celtics)
- Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- Damian Lillard (Milwaukee Bucks)
Forwards/Centre:
- Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat)
- Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns)
- Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
- LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat)
Some names were already at the World Cup and we can imagine players like Edwards or Halbiburton in Paris. Apart from that, the quality of the USA squad for the Olympics is simply impressive.
A look at the coaching team
You might assume that a team like this doesn’t need any coaching, but there is also an incredible amount of quality on the coaching bench. Steve Kerr from the Golden State Warriors remains head coach, supported by Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat) and Ty Lue (Los Angeles Clippers). Mark Few from the very strong Gonzaga College completes the coaching team. Incidentally, there is a long tradition of college coaches coaching the USA Basketball squad, as we like to remember Mike Krzyzewski (“Coach K”), who won three gold medals with the USA and was otherwise employed at Duke. Our NBA Predictions are of course still in focus until May, but we are already looking forward to this team and the tournament in general. With Steve Kerr, we are curious to see how he will end the difficult season with the Golden State Warriors and how much energy he will still have for the USA Basketball squad.
The rest of the squad composition process
The squad will be gradually whittled down until only 12 names remain. At the end of this article, we will give you our final prediction of who we see on the team out of the 41 names. Performance in the NBA season obviously plays an important role, for example when you play NBA Finals you have little to no rest. Some players see regeneration or time with the family as more important, which is of course understandable. In July, the USA will play some friendly matches, including one against the German team on 22 July! These games will be a kind of showcase and players can prove themselves for the final squad. The chemistry in the team has to be right and that will be found out over the coming weeks. In the coming months, names will be gradually removed from the list, both by the players themselves and by the sporting directors.
Surprising names on the list
As with every nomination, there were a few surprises when the USA squad for the Olympics was announced. We have picked out three names and explained to you individually why it was a surprise for us.
Joel Embiid
There were already some rumours that Embiid had opted for the USA, but the Cameroon-born player could also have played for his home country or France. Cameroon have not yet officially qualified for the tournament and he has hardly any links with France, so the USA is the logical choice. However, we would have liked to have seen him in a team with Gobert and Wemby, as the opposing team could not score in the zone.
Walker Kessler
Kessler was already at the Basketball World Cup, but only played a very small role “even” there. He is averaging 8.4 points and 7.6 rebounds in the current NBA season and even though the USA Basketball squad is thin at the centre position, we wouldn’t have expected to see his name here
Chet Holmgren
Holmgren has already won a world championship title with the USA’s U19 team, but we wouldn’t have expected to see his name in Paris. That’s not because of his performances on the pitch, but because of his injury history. He missed his entire rookie season due to injury and we rather think he should recover and hit the gym after his first proper NBA season.
Our prediction on the final USA squad for Paris
From a theoretical standpoint, we’re just going to assume that all the names here would commit. These are the biggest names we have in the NBA today and are part of our NBA picks, which is why we don’t want to miss out on them this summer:
- LeBron James
- Kevin Durant
- Stephen Curry
- Devin Booker
- Bam Adebayo
- Jayson Tatum
- Donovan Mitchell
- Kyrie Irving
- Anthony Edwards
- Anthony Davis
- Paul George
- Kawhi Leonard
Our starting five would look like this:
- PG: Stephen Curry
- SG: Devin Booker
- SF: Kevin Durant
- PF: LeBron James
- C: Anthony Davis
If these names don’t make you want to watch the tournament, you’ve never loved the sport.