2028 USA Olympic Team roster

[Ssj16]

Safe to say Embiid won't be walking out that door this time around.

[ShootersShoot]

World championship team of

Chet/zion
Mobley/JJJ
Jdub/Jbrown/cooper
Cade/trae/maxey
Ant/castle

Alts: bane, edgecombe, murphy

[Chuck Everett]

No Jaren Jackson please. Your bigs need to be able to rebound.

[UcanUwill]

World championship team of

Chet/zion
Mobley/JJJ
Jdub/Jbrown/cooper
Cade/trae/maxey
Ant/castle

Alts: bane, edgecombe, murphy

Edgecombe plays for Bahamas. Zion, JJJ and Trae I dont think are good ideas. Some of the most usefull players in these tournaments are guys lije Jrue, Iguodala, Battier, USA wins most international games cause they can smuggle opponent guards playing insane pressure the ball defense, bringing guys like Trae or Maxey is antithesis of doing whats been working, Trae would just be a major target out there the same way Austin Reaves was.

[Doug_12]

As things stand right now, I'd probably go with:
Haliburton / Cunningham
Edwards / J-Will / Dort
Tatum / Flagg
Mobley / Chet / JJJ
AD / Kessler

I assume Cunningham, Flagg and Chet will be better players in '28 than now. (Flagg probably significantly)

[UcanUwill]

As things stand right now, I'd probably go with:
Haliburton / Cunningham
Edwards / J-Will / Dort
Tatum / Flagg
Mobley / Chet / JJJ
AD / Kessler

I assume Cunningham, Flagg and Chet will be better players in '28 than now. (Flagg probably significantly)

Dort is Canadian, but I like your thinking, you just need to find American version of Dort in next few years.

[ShootersShoot]

World championship team of

Chet/zion
Mobley/JJJ
Jdub/Jbrown/cooper
Cade/trae/maxey
Ant/castle

Alts: bane, edgecombe, murphy

Edgecombe plays for Bahamas. Zion, JJJ and Trae I dont think are good ideas. Some of the most usefull players in these tournaments are guys lije Jrue, Iguodala, Battier, USA wins most international games cause they can smuggle opponent guards playing insane pressure the ball defense, bringing guys like Trae or Maxey is antithesis of doing whats been working, Trae would just be a major target out there the same way Austin Reaves was.

Maxey I like as a change of pace go to guard to compliment castle off the bench, who will play the jrue type of role. Maxey and trae are a tier over reaves lets be real.
The last fiba team was starting josh hart and kessler in the frontcourt. I would have happily taken zion over hart are you kidding me?

[UcanUwill]

World championship team of

Chet/zion
Mobley/JJJ
Jdub/Jbrown/cooper
Cade/trae/maxey
Ant/castle

Alts: bane, edgecombe, murphy

Edgecombe plays for Bahamas. Zion, JJJ and Trae I dont think are good ideas. Some of the most usefull players in these tournaments are guys lije Jrue, Iguodala, Battier, USA wins most international games cause they can smuggle opponent guards playing insane pressure the ball defense, bringing guys like Trae or Maxey is antithesis of doing whats been working, Trae would just be a major target out there the same way Austin Reaves was.

Maxey I like as a change of pace go to guard to compliment castle off the bench, who will play the jrue type of role. Maxey and trae are a tier over reaves lets be real.
The last fiba team was starting josh hart and kessler in the frontcourt. I would have happily taken zion over hart are you kidding me?

They were not starting those guys, Kessler didn't play at all, he was bench warmer, which probably was one of their major problems. Kerr strated JJJ at center and back center was Paolo and they both were terrible and team was destroyed on the boards in most games.

Guy like MAxey could work, but super perimeter defenders are always best way to go for team USA, because FIBA allows more physical ball pressure and a lot of international guards are less talented and cant beat pressure as much. You need to ditch Trae for sure and bring 2027 version of Caruso Jrue or smth, Caruso and Jrue might be too old by that point, but someone similar must emerge.

[ShootersShoot]

Edgecombe plays for Bahamas. Zion, JJJ and Trae I dont think are good ideas. Some of the most usefull players in these tournaments are guys lije Jrue, Iguodala, Battier, USA wins most international games cause they can smuggle opponent guards playing insane pressure the ball defense, bringing guys like Trae or Maxey is antithesis of doing whats been working, Trae would just be a major target out there the same way Austin Reaves was.

Maxey I like as a change of pace go to guard to compliment castle off the bench, who will play the jrue type of role. Maxey and trae are a tier over reaves lets be real.
The last fiba team was starting josh hart and kessler in the frontcourt. I would have happily taken zion over hart are you kidding me?

They were not starting those guys, Kessler didn't play at all, he was bench warmer, which probably was one of their major problems. Kerr strated JJJ at center and back center was Paolo and they both were terrible and team was destroyed on the boards in most games.

The usa started kessler and hart in the bronze game against canada in 2023 and they were starting harrsion barnes and joe harris in 2019. And here you are saying zion and maxey off the bench would be the problem. The lack of star power was just as big an issue in previous fiba teams. Castle is my guy to play the glue role.
If we are talking having guys like harrison barnes and josh hart versus zion, it should be a no brainer. I feel its more important to have guys like chet and mobley over zion for sure, but theres a place for a player like him on a fiba world cup squad. He could like kenneth faried for the 2014 squad.

[UcanUwill]

Maxey I like as a change of pace go to guard to compliment castle off the bench, who will play the jrue type of role. Maxey and trae are a tier over reaves lets be real.
The last fiba team was starting josh hart and kessler in the frontcourt. I would have happily taken zion over hart are you kidding me?

They were not starting those guys, Kessler didn't play at all, he was bench warmer, which probably was one of their major problems. Kerr strated JJJ at center and back center was Paolo and they both were terrible and team was destroyed on the boards in most games.

The usa started kessler and hart in the bronze game against canada in 2023 and they were starting harrsion barnes and joe harris in 2019. And here you are saying zion and maxey off the bech would be the problem. The lack of star power was just as big an issue in previous fiba teams.

Kessler didn't play in all prior games, Kerr was too late to start Kessler if anything, he could have helped earlier. JJJ was starting center who averaged below 3 rebounds per game, he was terrible. People were begging for Kessler to play entire tournament.

Yes, World cup teams often lack star power and Zion and Maxey are far from worst options, but I mean if we are building ideal possible teams, those aren't the guys. If like 20 guys refuse to go like they do, then sure. But we saw what liability Reaves was for example, he was just hunted by everybody, and team USA should not have liabilities, they have too many options, terrible perimeter defenders should just not make this team, especially the ones like Trae.

It would be interesting to see ZIon, I am more against ZIon not because he is terrible USA fit, but more of just him being hurt all the time, it just feels more like bringing Embiid on one leg, which worked for USA, but Embiid is now finished as a basketball player.

[ShootersShoot]

They were not starting those guys, Kessler didn't play at all, he was bench warmer, which probably was one of their major problems. Kerr strated JJJ at center and back center was Paolo and they both were terrible and team was destroyed on the boards in most games.

The usa started kessler and hart in the bronze game against canada in 2023 and they were starting harrsion barnes and joe harris in 2019. And here you are saying zion and maxey off the bech would be the problem. The lack of star power was just as big an issue in previous fiba teams.

Kessler didn't play in all prior games, Kerr was too late to start Kessler if anything, he could have helped earlier. JJJ was starting center who averaged below 3 rebounds per game, he was terrible. People were begging for Kessler to play entire tournament.

Yes, World cup teams often lack star power and Zion and Maxey are far from worst options, but I mean if we are building ideal possible teams, those aren't the guys. If like 20 guys refuse to go like they do, then sure. But we saw what liability Reaves was for example, he was just hunted by everybody, and team USA should not have liabilities, they have too many options, terrible perimeter defenders should just not make this team, especially the ones like Trae.

It would be interesting to see ZIon, I am more against ZIon not because he is terrible USA fit, but more of just him being hurt all the time, it just feels more like bringing Embiid on one leg, which worked for USA, but Embiid is now finished as a basketball player.

I think mobley and chet are much more ideal than a zion for sure and would prefer them. Yes if more ideal players come along by all means but if we are talking having to take josh hart and barnes because they are better "fits" than zion then it becomes a poor argument imo. If team usa started kenneth faried in 2014 they could have zion on the team in 2026.

I dont think having one of a maxey or trae type would hurt the team too much. Maybe both is a bit much..If we have castle playing the glue role with wings like jdub and brown it shouldnt be as much of a problem.
At the end of the day both guys are at least better overall than the 2022 version of reaves.

I think the integral type of guys to have on the team would be chet, mobley, castle, jdub, guys thay can lock things down when needed then cade and/or ant to create in the backcourt, then perhaps another really good wing and backcourt player. What back up backcourt player would you prefer there?

[UcanUwill]

.

Anyhow, I really appreciate you are trying to build 2027 World cup roster, but we know a lot of stars will refuse to suit up for world cup as they always do, and I think team USA should learn their mistakes from last two world cups where they didn't even medal. There were too many defensive liabilities and team was too small. They should look at 2010 team as a team to build if most stars are not going. 2010 team had go to guy who lead their offense in KD, but all the other key guys were guys like Iguodala, Billups and Odom. Some of the bigger perceived stars on that team were Danny Granger and Rudy Gay, but they were terrible. These teams need guys who excel at role playing, I am not sure Trae is that, I am not sure Zion is that, they just scream to me more of these FIBA fail guys like Grander, JJJ, Ingram, Reaves were. JJJ might be good option, but he just can not be a center anymode. in 2023 WC we found out why these NBA coaches do not play him at center, dude was just killed on the boards.

[ShootersShoot]

.

Anyhow, I really appreciate you are trying to build 2027 World cup roster, but we know a lot of stars will refuse to suit up for world cup as they always do, and I think team USA should learn their mistakes from last two world cups where they didn't even medal. There were too many defensive liabilities and team was too small. They should look at 2010 team as a team to build if most stars are not going. 2010 team had go to guy who lead their offense in KD, but all the other key guys were guys like Iguodala, Billups and Odom. Some of the bigger perceived stars on that team were Danny Granger and Rudy Gay, but they were terrible. These teams need guys who excel at role playing, I am not sure Trae is that, I am not sure Zion is that, they just scream to me more of these FIBA fail guys like Grander, JJJ, Ingram, Reaves were. JJJ might be good option, but he just can not be a center anymode. in 2023 WC we found out why these NBA coaches do not play him at center, dude was just killed on the boards.

I think they can start a campaign to bring gold back to usa after two terrible showings and to build chemistry for the olympics. A lot of the guys I named seem semi realistic except perhaps ant. Since none of those guys will have fiba experience and could use some to build upon for the olympics. If guys dont accept then it is what it is. I am just saying if the world cup squad can get a guy like zion they should jump at the chance considering the type of talent they have been bringing and losing with. Zion is easily at least a tier over JJJ or any other frontcourt player they have had in the last two world cups.

[UcanUwill]

I think mobley and chet are much more ideal than a zion for sure and would prefer them. Yes if more ideal players come along by all means but if we are talking having to take josh hart and barnes because they are better "fits" than zion then it becomes a poor argument imo. If team usa started kenneth faried in 2014 they could have zion on the team in 2026.

I dont think having one of a maxey or trae type would hurt the team too much. Maybe both is a bit much..If we have castle playing the glue role with wings like jdub and brown it shouldnt be as much of a problem.
At the end of the day both guys are at least better overall than the 2022 version of reaves.

I think the integral type of guys to have on the team would be chet, mobley, castle, jdub, guys thay can lock things down when needed then cade and/or ant to create in the backcourt, then perhaps another really good wing and backcourt player. What back up backcourt player would you prefer there?

What do you think of Herb Jones. I think that type of player always finds himself usefull on team USA. Also, especially nowadays, you need size at center. I am not sure who would it be, but Chet and Mobley could be pushed around by Milutinov types. I mean, if USA did not naturalize Embiid last time, they were probably in trouble. I would actually think of Kessler again, I mean, USA just do not have very good true centers, but you need those in FIBA, I get star power is not there, but if you face MIlutinov, or Moustapha Fall or Jokic it can get ugly if you just have 210 pound Chet over there. Maybe in two years Mobley will be up to the task.

Speaking of Mobely, as I said before, I have no idea why Hill is not inviting him, lock him up. He is half Bahamian, his brother already plays for Bahamas and Evan himslef contemplated of joining. I assume he didn't cause he wants to represent team USA and just waiting for invite, but invite him already while you still can. Not sure what shoe deal he has, we had this conversation and acussasions that only NIKE guys get on team USA, and at first it seemed bogus, but with years it just seems more and more true.

[UcanUwill]

Anyhow, 2027 WC qualification has not even started yet. We all assume that team USA will qualify, but with FIBA window system, you can never be completely sure anymore.

[ShootersShoot]

I think mobley and chet are much more ideal than a zion for sure and would prefer them. Yes if more ideal players come along by all means but if we are talking having to take josh hart and barnes because they are better "fits" than zion then it becomes a poor argument imo. If team usa started kenneth faried in 2014 they could have zion on the team in 2026.

I dont think having one of a maxey or trae type would hurt the team too much. Maybe both is a bit much..If we have castle playing the glue role with wings like jdub and brown it shouldnt be as much of a problem.
At the end of the day both guys are at least better overall than the 2022 version of reaves.

I think the integral type of guys to have on the team would be chet, mobley, castle, jdub, guys thay can lock things down when needed then cade and/or ant to create in the backcourt, then perhaps another really good wing and backcourt player. What back up backcourt player would you prefer there?

What do you think of Herb Jones. I think that type of player always finds himself usefull on team USA. Also, especially nowadays, you need size at center. I am not sure who would it be, but Chet and Mobley could be pushed around by Milutinov types. I mean, if USA did not naturalize Embiid last time, they were probably in trouble. I would actually think of Kessler again, I mean, USA just do not have very good true centers, but you need those in FIBA, I get star power is not there, but if you face MIlutinov, or Moustapha Fall or Jokic it can get ugly if you just have 210 pound Chet over there. Maybe in two years Mobley will be up to the task.

Speaking of Mobely, as I said before, I have no idea why Hill is not inviting him, lock him up. He is half Bahamian, his brother already plays for Bahamas and Evan himslef contemplated of joining. I assume he didn't cause he wants to represent team USA and just waiting for invite, but invite him already while you still can. Not sure what shoe deal he has, we had this conversation and acussasions that only NIKE guys get on team USA, and at first it seemed bogus, but with years it just seems more and more true.

Personally would prefer castle over herb and if I have castle would want to pair him with a maxey as the backup guards but thats just my preference. Might take herb as a back up wing.

But youbare right, center is really the big concern though. Outside of AD who will be 34 in 2028 and bam, really chet and mobley would be the only viable guys before we see a steep drop off in the talent pool. Embiid I am not going to count on.

[UcanUwill]

Personally would prefer castle over herb and if I have castle would want to pair him with a maxey as the backup guards but thats just my preference. Might take herb as a back up wing.

But youbare right, center is really the big concern though. Outside of AD who will be 34 in 2028 and bam, really chet and mobley would be the only viable guys before we see a steep drop off in the talent pool. Embiid I am not going to count on.

And even AD and Bam, Bam is like 6'9 if that, AD has more length but he is one of those soft guys who insists he is not a center altho he is. You need a real 7'1 250+ guy out there I think, and as of today, Kessler might be best bet to at least hold his own. I know it sounds sad, but not like guys like Valanciūnas or Milutinov are that good, you do not need 10 time all star to match that, but you need to match their size still, because it can get problematic.

[Doug_12]

As things stand right now, I'd probably go with:
Haliburton / Cunningham
Edwards / J-Will / Dort
Tatum / Flagg
Mobley / Chet / JJJ
AD / Kessler

I assume Cunningham, Flagg and Chet will be better players in '28 than now. (Flagg probably significantly)

Dort is Canadian, but I like your thinking, you just need to find American version of Dort in next few years.

Yeah, I missed that. Caruso (or White) would be the ideal replacement, if they were not 31 already. Not sure how much will they have left in the tank in 3 years.

[UcanUwill]

As things stand right now, I'd probably go with:
Haliburton / Cunningham
Edwards / J-Will / Dort
Tatum / Flagg
Mobley / Chet / JJJ
AD / Kessler

I assume Cunningham, Flagg and Chet will be better players in '28 than now. (Flagg probably significantly)

Dort is Canadian, but I like your thinking, you just need to find American version of Dort in next few years.

Yeah, I missed that. Caruso (or White) would be the ideal replacement, if they were not 31 already. Not sure how much will they have left in the tank in 3 years. Dyson Daniels maybe, but I like Caruso's impact more.

Dyson Daniels is Australian. Him and Giddey are their top two guys going forward.

[Doug_12]

Dort is Canadian, but I like your thinking, you just need to find American version of Dort in next few years.

Yeah, I missed that. Caruso (or White) would be the ideal replacement, if they were not 31 already. Not sure how much will they have left in the tank in 3 years. Dyson Daniels maybe, but I like Caruso's impact more.

Dyson Daniels is Australian. Him and Giddey are their top two guys going forward.

Yeah, corrected it. It's sad how empty the the defensive guard slot is for USA.