Houston's James Harden and New Orleans' Anthony Davis headline Team USA's 20-man roster ahead of their FIBA World Cup training camp in August.
USA Basketball announced the squad early on Tuesday morning and, as expected, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry were not named after declaring themselves unavailable to play.
It's understood some players could still be added to the roster, with Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard not ruled out and projected number one draft pick Zion Williamson still a potential inclusion.
James Harden will play in Team USA at the World Cup.Credit:AP
Leonard is a free agent this off-season and will need to sort out his future first while Williamson still needs to be selected in the draft later this month where he's expected to be selected by the New Orleans Pelicans who have the first pick.
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It's understood USA Basketball still has hopes one or both could play with Williamson potentially joining other young stars on the Team USA select team who will be named in the coming weeks and will join the other players for camp.
Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and Andre Drummond have also put their hands up to play as have Kyle Lowry, Bradley Beal and Kemba Walker.
For the last World Cup in 2014, the USA selected a number of rising young stars between 21-25 – including Curry, Harden and Davis – but this roster is noticeably older with the likes of PJ Tucker, Paul Millsap, Brook Lopez and Lowry named.
Anthony Davis from New Orleans is in the squad.Credit:AP
The 20 players named and any late inclusions will form the 12-man squad who will play against Australia for two games at Marvel Stadium in late August and a clash with Canada in Sydney before flying to China for the World Cup.
New USA coach Gregg Popovich will take charge of the national team for the first time and he expects great difficulty in naming a final roster.
"I am excited about getting to training camp in August and working with all of the players that have been selected to attend the USA national team training camp in Las Vegas," Popovich said.
Gregg Popovich will coach the US basketball team at the World Cup.Credit:AP
"We've got an excellent cross-section of veteran USA Basketball and NBA players, as well as some exciting younger players who possess amazing versatility.
"I'm appreciative of commitment that our national team players continue to make, and the eagerness of the new players to become involveRead More – Source
Houston's James Harden and New Orleans' Anthony Davis headline Team USA's 20-man roster ahead of their FIBA World Cup training camp in August.
USA Basketball announced the squad early on Tuesday morning and, as expected, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry were not named after declaring themselves unavailable to play.
It's understood some players could still be added to the roster, with Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard not ruled out and projected number one draft pick Zion Williamson still a potential inclusion.
James Harden will play in Team USA at the World Cup.Credit:AP
Leonard is a free agent this off-season and will need to sort out his future first while Williamson still needs to be selected in the draft later this month where he's expected to be selected by the New Orleans Pelicans who have the first pick.
Advertisement
It's understood USA Basketball still has hopes one or both could play with Williamson potentially joining other young stars on the Team USA select team who will be named in the coming weeks and will join the other players for camp.
Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and Andre Drummond have also put their hands up to play as have Kyle Lowry, Bradley Beal and Kemba Walker.
For the last World Cup in 2014, the USA selected a number of rising young stars between 21-25 – including Curry, Harden and Davis – but this roster is noticeably older with the likes of PJ Tucker, Paul Millsap, Brook Lopez and Lowry named.
Anthony Davis from New Orleans is in the squad.Credit:AP
The 20 players named and any late inclusions will form the 12-man squad who will play against Australia for two games at Marvel Stadium in late August and a clash with Canada in Sydney before flying to China for the World Cup.
New USA coach Gregg Popovich will take charge of the national team for the first time and he expects great difficulty in naming a final roster.
"I am excited about getting to training camp in August and working with all of the players that have been selected to attend the USA national team training camp in Las Vegas," Popovich said.
Gregg Popovich will coach the US basketball team at the World Cup.Credit:AP
"We've got an excellent cross-section of veteran USA Basketball and NBA players, as well as some exciting younger players who possess amazing versatility.
"I'm appreciative of commitment that our national team players continue to make, and the eagerness of the new players to become involveRead More – Source
