USA Men’s Basketball squad for
the Paris Olympics is starting to take shape.
According to
Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The AthleticBoston Celtics
guard Jrue Holiday and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker are emerging
as candidates to play for Team USA in the Olympic Games this summer
in Paris.
Holiday and Booker, who were
both part of the 2021 iteration of Team USA that won the gold medal
in Tokyo, have been heavily pursued by USA Basketball. Team
officials value Holiday’s two-way ability, point-of-attack defense and
dynamic playmaking as well as Booker’s three-level scoring, according to
Charania and Vardon.
Although the final roster is not
set, USA Basketball officials mentioned Holiday and Booker as heavy
considerations to make the team. Superstars LeBron James, Stephen
Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum are expected to
be Team USA’s core. It would be the first time that James, Curry and
Durant teamed up on the international stage.
Like Holiday and Booker, Tatum
was part of the gold medal-winning team in 2021, while Embiid
committed to play for Team USA last July over France and his home
country Cameroon.
2023 FIBA World Cup participants
Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton are also names to be
monitored for the squad after their impressive performances.
Although Team USA had a disappointing fourth-place finish, Edwards
and Haliburton emerged as the best players in Manila.
Previous Olympic gold medal
winners Anthony Davis (London 2012) and Bam Adebayo (Tokyo 2021)
are also being considered for additional big man depth behind
Embiid.
