With only days remaining until America's best basketball players descend on Las Vegas for the beginning of Team USA training camp, the squad's potential makeup is coming into clearer view. To be sure, there are some tough choices left to be made by head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff, but a rash of recent injuries has significantly narrowed the pool of available talent.
Dwyane Wade is planning to have knee surgery. Derrick Rose is still recovering from one of his own. Chris Bosh is resting his mysterious (but still really serious) abdominal injury. Andrew Bynum is being, well, Andrew Bynum. And Dwight Howard is apparently spending his summer accusing the Orlando Magic of blackmail.
All of that leaves just 16 players on USA Basketball's current list of finalists to fill 12 seats on the plane to London. Final rosters are due July 7, just two days after players report to camp.
Thankfully, nine of those roster spots are virtually set in stone. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler, Deron Williams, and Russell Westbrook will all assuredly be donning the red, white, and blue unless something very strange occurs in the next week. That means Blake Griffin, Lamar Odom, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Eric Gordon, Andre Iguodala, and Rudy Gay will battle it out in Vegas this week for the final three vacancies.
The squad's most glaring needs remain in the frontcourt. With Howard, Bynum, Bosh, and LaMarcus Aldridge all skipping London, Chandler is left as the only true center on the roster, with Kevin Love serving as the only natural power forward. Granted, the international game often benefits teams that feature more athletic, versatile forwards, and James and Durant have more than proven their mettle on the block in recent weeks — but it seems unlikely the coaches will feel comfortable employing such a small lineup when Spain's massive front line (featuring both Gasol brothers and Serge Ibaka) lurks in the inevitable future.
Hence, it seems that the big men — Griffin, Odom, and Davis — are currently in the best position to make the final cut, as Krzyzewski will likely use two of his three remaining openings to shore up the paint. Not coincidentally, all three are scheduled to arrive in Las Vegas a day earlier than the rest of the team for a special workout with the coaching staff. With only two days between the first practice on July 5 and the roster deadline, this extra all-posts session figures to play a prominent role in rounding out the roster.
As for the other open spot, the jury is still out on which direction Coach K and company will go. Given the current makeup of the squad (heavy on world-class point guards and swingmen), it seems like the tide is against Iguodala and/or Gay finding a place. What does either really bring to the table that, say, LeBron James or Kevin Durant does not? Between the two, Iguodala probably has the edge due to his status as an elite wing defender, but the logjam at the small forward position will undoubtedly provide a significant roadblock for either.
If there is one thing the team (as presently constituted) lacks, it's outside shooting — the lifeblood of the international game. The roster lacks a three-point specialist. No Ray Allen or Kyle Korver here. To be sure, Durant (39 percent in 2011-2012) and Love (37 percent) can hit shots from distance with consistency, and LeBron will always remain immensely capable of getting hot at any given time, but this seems like a niche just waiting to be filled.
This particular deficiency would seem to benefit either Harden, who shot 39 percent last season from deep, or Gordon, who was sidelined with a knee injury for much of the 2011-2012 campaign but who remains a 37 percent career marksman. With Kobe as the only shooting guard guaranteed to make the team (although Westbrook will also see some minutes as a combo guard), both young guys seem well positioned to compete for the spot. However, logistics would seem to give Harden the edge — as a free agent, Gordon cannot participate fully in team practices until he signs a new contract. That can't happen until at least July 11, well after the deadline for roster submissions. In a tight battle for what will probably be the last opening, those extra opportunities could make all the difference.
Then again, Iguodala also shot 39 percent from three this past season, so who really knows what direction Krzyzewski will go?
In any event, the process and the competition between players should be fascinating to watch — and it will all be settled by this time next week. Game on.
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