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The new pool of players for the U.S. National Team has been released, and as usual, it features some interesting and versatile candidates and more big guys than maybe last time.
| NO |
NAME
|
POS
|
HGT
|
WGT
|
DOB
|
CURRENT TEAM / COLLEGE
|
| LaMarcus Aldridge |
F
|
6-11
|
240
|
7/19/85
|
Portland Trail Blazers / Texas
|
|
| Carmelo Anthony |
F
|
6-8
|
230
|
5/29/84
|
New York Knicks / Syracuse
|
|
| Bradley Beal |
G
|
6-5
|
207
|
6/28/93
|
Washington Wizards / Florida
|
|
|
Tyson Chandler
|
C
|
7-1
|
235
|
10/02/82
|
New York Knicks / Dominguez H.S. (CA)
|
|
|
DeMarcus Cousins
|
C
|
6-11
|
270
|
8/13/90
|
Sacramento Kings / Kentucky
|
|
|
Stephen Curry
|
G
|
6-3
|
185
|
3/14/8
|
Golden State Warriors / Davidson
|
|
|
Anthony Davis
|
F/C
|
6-10
|
220
|
3/11/93
|
New Orleans Pelicans / Kentucky
|
|
| Andre Drummond |
C
|
6-10
|
270
|
9/10/93
|
Detroit Pistons / Connecticut
|
|
|
Kevin Durant
|
G
|
6-9
|
230
|
9/29/88
|
Oklahoma City Thunder / Texas
|
|
| Kenneth Faried |
F
|
6-8
|
228
|
11/19/89
|
Denver Nuggets / Morehead State
|
|
| Paul George |
G
|
6-8
|
221
|
5/02/90
|
Indiana Pacers / Fresno State | |
| Blake Griffin |
F
|
6-10
|
251
|
3/16/89
|
Los Angeles Clippers / Oklahoma | |
|
James Harden
|
G
|
6-5
|
220
|
8/26/89
|
Houston Rockets / Arizona State
|
|
| Gordon Hayward |
F
|
6-8
|
210
|
3/23/90
|
Utah Jazz / Butler | |
| Dwight Howard |
F/C
|
6-11
|
265
|
12/08/85
|
Houston Rockets / Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy (GA) | |
|
Andre Iguodala
|
G/F
|
6-6
|
207
|
1/28/84
|
Golden State Warriors / Arizona
|
|
| Kyrie Irving |
G
|
6-3
|
191
|
3/23/92
|
Cleveland Cavaliers / Duke | |
| LeBron James |
F
|
6-8
|
250
|
12/30/84
|
Miami Heat / St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S. (OH) | |
| Kyle Korver |
G/F
|
6-7
|
212
|
93/17/81
|
Atlanta Hawks / Creighton | |
| David Lee |
F
|
6-9
|
240
|
4/29/83
|
Golden State Warriors / Florida | |
|
Kawhi Leonard
|
F/G
|
6-7
|
235
|
6/29/91
|
San Antonio Spurs / San Diego State
|
|
|
Damian Lillard
|
G
|
6-3
|
195
|
7/15/90
|
Portland Trail Blazers / Weber State
|
|
|
Kevin Love
|
F
|
6-10
|
260
|
9/07/88
|
Minnesota Timberwolves / UCLA
|
|
|
Chris Paul
|
G
|
6-0
|
175
|
5/06/85
|
Los Angeles Clippers / Wake Forest
|
|
|
Derrick Rose
|
G
|
6-3
|
190
|
10/04/88
|
Chicago Bulls / Memphis
|
|
| Klay Thompson |
G
|
6-7
|
205
|
2/08/90
|
Golden State Warriors / Washington State | |
| Russell Westbrook |
G
|
6-3
|
187
|
11/12/88
|
Oklahoma City Thunder / UCLA | |
| Deron Williams |
G
|
6-3
|
207
|
7/26/84
|
Brooklyn Nets / Illinois |
There are the returnees: Carmelo Anthony, who may or may not play in the Olympics, Tyson Chandler, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Dwight Howard, Andre Iguodola, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams and of course LeBron James and anyone else we're forgetting.
Big guys: Andre Drummond, who may have to take a break with Jennette McCurdy to participate (side note: it's sweet and oddly touching that a guy his size, who is after all still quite young, evidently had a teenage crush on McCurdy, who starred on ICarly, and then had a chance to actually go out with her. Kudos, Andre),LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, who participated previously but had to withdraw after an injury and DeMarcus Cousins are new. Cousins, still emotionally immature, may be a bit of a risk.
That gives a pool of Drummond, Griffin, Chandler, Davis, Howard, Griffin and James, who can play wherever he wants.
In terms of what we could call flex players, the pool offers James (again), Anthony, Durant, Iguodola, Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson.
There are also specialists, and you could argue that Love is one because of his rebounding and brilliant outlet passes, and also Paul George (defense), Kyle Korver and Gordon Hayward (three point shooting) and David Lee (rebounding).
Then there are the big guards: James (again), Anthony (again), James Harden, Leonard, Thompson, Bradley Beal, Iguodola, Russell Westbrook and Deron James.
And then the small/point guards: Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Deron Williams.
The possibilities of putting Irving and Curry on the floor together, although they are small, is tantalizing - and you might have an Iguodola to cover on defense if one has a problem (their first problem is taking minutes from Chris Paul). Or you could go with Harden and say Rose. Or you could go really big with Harden and James.
What we enjoy about how the Olympic team has evolved under Jerry Colangelo and Coach K is they put together a highly athletic and versatile team, and then get behind the wheel and just drive it all over the court and watch the other teams try to get out of the way before it's too late.
As always, the U.S. team should be versatile and defend well, as that's our primary international advantage. But this team could also be incredibly explosive as some of the NBA's great offensive stars are here.
Note: we don't know Kenneth Faried's game well enough to know how he might fit with this group.