2016 Men's Olympic Basketball Team...
PG: Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose*, Chris Paul
SG: James Harden, Harrison Barnes
SF: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF: Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Anthony Davis
C: Dwight Howard
*If the level does not recover after the injury included John Wall
** I do not include DeMarcus Cousins and Michael Beasley by character problems
*** Andrew Bynum decide not to go to games to avoid injuries
****kyrie irving participate with Australia
***** Derrick Favors, Greg Monroe, Shabazz Muhammad, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Bradley Beal, James McAdoo, Jeremy Lamb, Eric Gordon and Andre Drummond miss the cut
PG: Chris Paul, Kyrie Irvine, Russel Westbrook
SG: James Harden, Paul George, Eric Gordon
SF: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony
PF: Blake Griffin
C: Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis
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just missed
PG: John Wall
SG: Shabazz Muhamad
SF: MKG
PF/Center: Love/ C. Zeller
The Olympic Football Team's are allowed 3 over-age players so I wonder if Basketball could follow suit, maybe 2 overage players given that their squads are smaller. If this was the case then ir could well be LeBron and KD as the likely overage players with other contenders being K-Love, D-Rose, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard, CP3, Bynum, D-Will etc.
If it did go to 23 and under for 2016 Olympics, would it be players born in 1993 or after or players born after a certain date or in or after 1992 I wonder?
The rule change would be fairly neutral apart from stopping so many NBA stars playing in the Olympics and the USA squad could be built up from the current age band teams with maybe a few overage players added if the rule went that way. Personally I'd love to see some of the top college guys mixing it with young NBA players if the rule change did go through but would the NCAA allow college players to play on a side with NBA players I wonder.
Here's my 2016 roster:
Starters:
PG: Derrick Rose
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Kevin Love
C: Dwight Howard
Bench:
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Russell Westbrook
SF: James Harden
PF: Anthony Davis
C: Andrew Bynum
Reserves:
SF: Kawhi Leonard
SF: Perry Jones
I like having Kevin Durant as the alpha dog go-to guy. Huge size and length for a 3 and can also play stretch four. Then you have two superstars at your other important spots, D Rose at point guard, and Dwight Howard at center. Klay Thompson is a tall, long, dead-eye shooter at the 2. Off the bench I am going with a smaller backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook with Kyrie being the shooter and Westbrook being the instant offense 6th man type. Harden can do some of everything at the 3 (also the 2), giving Team USA another scorer, shooter, passer, and ball handler. At the 4 and 5 I am going big here with Anthony Davis (lanky range, defense) and Andrew Bynum (size and inside scoring).
In my reserve spots I am going with Kawhi Leonard as the role playing defender/glue guy at the 3. He is also a good rebounder and can score some, too. I also like that he is playing in Coach Pop's system. Seems like a good role player to bring off the bench, and he also looks like he could play some stretch four. Narrowly beating out MKG for this spot. This might be a leap, but I am going with Perry Jones as the 12th man. I think he has a ton of talent, and I think he will be really good in four years. I like his versatility with his all-around scoring, shooting, and athleticism. He can also play either forward spot. He gives Team USA another stretch four. If he doesn't get this spot look for Rudy Gay and LaMarcus Aldridge to also get a look here. Or Blake Griffin.
Blake Griffin looks like my biggest snub but this team is already deep inside with Love, Dwight Howard, Bynum, and Anthony Davis. I am taking PJIII due to his range and versatility. Both he and Kawhi Leonard can play the 4 with Kawhi Leonard providing better defense and intangibles and Jones having more upside as a shot-blocker.
Other guys to look at for that last spot (that Perry Jones gets) is Paul George, Chandler Parsons, Gordon Hayward, Harrison Barnes (a better scoring option here), and perhaps even Terrence Jones. I think though that Perry Jones is going to show us a lot, and he will give the 2016 what it needs -- a taller, stronger, poor man's version of Kevin Durant/younger, taller, more versatile version of Rudy Gay/Danny Granger, plus a better option at power forward. Four Thunder guys on this team might be overdoing it, but these guys can play, and that should help familiarity and chemistry.
I'll take a stab at the starting five in 4 years in Rio...
PG-Kyrie Irving
SG-James Harden
SF-Kevin Durant
PF-Blake Griffin
C-Anthony Davis