So lets say all the good US Basketball players want to play the Olympics. And the only criteria is to nominate the 12 players who will form the strongest possible US team. So no players who get rewarded for past career achievements - just the best players right now.
What should the roster look like? Which 12 players should be in it?
starting 5 would have to be curry, d book, kd, lebron, and then embiid.
on the bench id like haliburton, ant, jt, ad, and then bam.
ant might be a strange pick but there arent a lot of shooting guards to be honest. could put pg in there or maybe jrue could play that position. another guy you may want in that slot who doesnt traditionally play sg could be Jimmy Butler.
either way we’re coming in with a vengeance.
Love Haliburton but I’d rather take a defensive guy with that much firepower already
AD’s a better start over Embiid with that lineup, neither are gonna be the focal point of the offense and AD’s a much better defender
im just glad embiid committed to playing usa basketball
I don’t think AD is a much better defender but think his roll style would fit much better.
Embid does short rolls and stops before the paint.
Starters: Curry, Holiday, Lebron, KD, Embiid Bench: Tatum, Booker, Haliburton, Edwards, B. Lopez, Bam, AD
I put holiday in the starting lineup for defense since the rest of the starters can carry the offense.
Also put Lopez in there as an Embiid backup/injury insurance. Since there isn’t a defensive 3 second rule he can just stand in the paint and block the shit out of everyone while shooting threes on the other end.
Bron, Steph, KD, Tatum and Embiid would be OK.
Embiid/AD/Bam Durant/JJJ LeBron/Tatum Kawhi/Booker/Jrue Steph/Haliburton
HM: Chet, Fox, Ant, PG, Dray
I like the idea of trying to play big without sacrificing too much spacing
Booker is currently a better player than Kawhi
I know Scottie probably won’t make it. But I think he would be a great fit on team USA. You can’t have all 1st options, you need a guy whos can pass, rebound and do a little bit of everything
C - Embiid, AD, Bam
PF - LeBron, KAT
SF - KD, Tatum, Butler
SG - Booker, Ant
PG - Steph, Halliburton
All those centers offer the same thing. I would take Chet over one of AD so you could play five out.
Steph, Booker, KD, LeBron, Embiid starting 5
Haliburton, Edwards, Tatum, PG, Banchero, AD, Chet, and Bam off the bench
Ad? AD??? Absolutely not. I’d way rather take a different big, like idk, JOKIC?? Jokic is 100x better than AD And proved it last playoffs
I don’t think Jokic would be available for team USA, I imagine he’d play for Serbia.
Nothing a quick military operation can’t fix
Serbia has oil?
I feel like Fox would feast in international ball. Dude is so quick. I’m not seeing him on many lists though but he could easily be the third guard imo.
Not Trae
Idk but I’d love to see Steph and Chet on the floor together at some point