Blake Griffin's Place On Team USA

Before today, nine of the 12 roster spots on the United States' Olympic basketball team were already taken, with three spots up for grabs. Once Lamar Odom removed his name from consideration this past week and Anthony Davis sprained his right ankle days before training camp, the final roster spots became the subject of intense speculation around the blogosphere. That speculation ended tonight, as USA Basketball announced the final selection of 12 players to participate in the upcoming London Olympic games, with Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala, and James Harden sliding by as the coaches' last three picks.

Griffin's selection is particularly intriguing. Once Odom opted out and Davis showed up to camp injured, Griffin's spot on the final roster became almost a guarantee. He now becomes the team's third big man behind Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love and, as such, is a candidate to get significant minutes. However, it would seem that Griffin's inclusion was more of a last resort than an active choice.

Why Lamar Odom Leaving Team USA Is A Bad Career Move

With the start of training camp just hours away, one thing has become clear to me: Whoever is advising Lamar Odom these days (and let's be honest, we're probably talking about an assistant producer at E!) is not doing a particularly good job.

Odom's life has been a comedy of errors over the last year, culminating in his decision this past week to remove himself from consideration for the U.S. Olympic team. Odom is instead electing to spend the summer preparing for the upcoming season and his return to the L.A. Clippers organization. The logic behind this decision is incredibly flawed as recent history shows us that — with an overwhelming success rate — the best thing a player can do to improve his game over the summer is participate in international basketball.

While it may seem counter-intuitive to traditional basketball wisdom (many players like Odom opt not to play in international tournaments over the summer in order to rest, recuperate, and tape new episodes of their reality TV shows), in recent years players who have played with Team USA over the summer have made a significant statistical jump the following season.

The 2010 World Championship Team provides the most recent and best example of this phenomenon — almost every player who participated on that team took a huge leap the next year.

With Davis Down and Odom Out, Team USA's Options Dwindle

As you've no doubt already heard (particularly if you are following us on Twitter — shameless plug in the lede!), Anthony Davis went down with a rather nasty ankle sprain in a workout in New Orleans on Sunday, leaving his availability for London in serious doubt. Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski broke the unfortunate news first.

Of course, this being 2012 and the Internet being, you know, the Internet, Woj's revelation set off a firestorm of polarized sermonizing about the impact (or lack thereof) of Davis' injury on Team USA's fortunes. Some felt the prospect of relying on the not-exactly-durable Tyson Chandler as the roster's only true center boded ill for the team moving forward. Others felt that Davis was mostly expendable, that LeBron James playing center in a small-ball lineup is a "dream scenario," and that everyone should just cool their pessimistic jets.

All valid points made by some of our brightest basketball minds. So, who's right? Well, as is so often the case online and in life, the answer likely lies somewhere between the two extremes.

Decision Time: Who Will Make Team USA's Olympic Roster?

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.