Team Canada Basketball Thread V2.0

[Kenter16]

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This post mentions 12 canadian NBA players that have said they will play. Who am I missing?


1. Jamal Murray
2. Shai
3. NAW
4. Trey Lyles
5. Chris Boucher
6. Dillon Brooks
7. Mfondu Kabengele
8. RJ Barrett
9. Khem Birch
10. OShae Brissett
11. Dwight Powell did but...


Did KO? All I remember is he said if his contract works out.
I haven't seen anything from CoJo either. Assuming hes coming though.

Also, why not have this exhibition game in Victoria or Vancouver? Limit travelling during the camp.

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[HabsAndDubs]

Mychal Mulder just signed a multi-year with the warriors. Was great under his 10 day. Next year is unguaranteed, so not sure how it bodes for his team canada chances, but I definitely think he should make the team, and he might see it as an opportunity to raise his profile.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.montereyherald.com/2020/03/10/warriors-sign-mychal-mulder-to-multi-year-contract/amp/

[OntZags]

This post mentions 12 canadian NBA players that have said they will play. Who am I missing?

I'd take any previous confirmation with a giant grain of salt at the moment. The COVID situation is too fluid right now and we could easily see an Olympic cancellation. (or perhaps an unattended Olympics and who knows how that affects participation levels?)

[Kenter16]

This post mentions 12 canadian NBA players that have said they will play. Who am I missing?

I'd take any previous confirmation with a giant grain of salt at the moment. The COVID situation is too fluid right now and we could easily see an Olympic cancellation. (or perhaps an unattended Olympics and who knows how that affects participation levels?)

I can't possibly see a cancellation of the Olympics. No way. Japan has spent 26 Billion on preparing for the games. That's just too much money to give up on. Maybe a postponement, maybe. Most likely, they have the games without people in the stands. Take the money from the tv deals, which would limit the financial blow. The athletes village would then be basically a quarenten zone. Nobody in or out. The athletes go to their event and are brought straight back to the village.

There is an outcome to this situation that gets us to the olympics easier. Maybe the European countries decide not to fly across the world to compete in the qualifying tourny. Maybe we just have to play a best of 3 with Uruguay for an olympic spot.

I have tickets to the OQT and I am very nervous that it will be held without fans in the stands. I have my fingers crossed. Things are in absolute limbo right now. Maybe we should just shutdown everything on the globe for 3 weeks. That would ensure I get to see the SMNT compete in June. Make it happen!

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[Kenter16]

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Shittu, could be an option for Victoria... he had a slow start to his season, but he has been very good since the start of the new year.

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[Hair Canada]

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Shittu, could be an option for Victoria... he had a slow start to his season, but he has been very good since the start of the new year.

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Yes, Simi has been balling as of late in the G. In the last 3 games he's been really great with 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 steals, shooting 65% from the field. Maybe he's finally finding his groove back after that injury and the bad fit in Vanderbilt. I didn't watch full games though, so not sure if the D, which was really bad last year in college, has also improved. If so, he should find his way to the league with time.

[mojo13]

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Shittu, could be an option for Victoria... he had a slow start to his season, but he has been very good since the start of the new year.

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Yes, Simi has been balling as of late in the G. In the last 3 games he's been really great with 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 steals, shooting 65% from the field. Maybe he's finally finding his groove back after that injury and the bad fit in Vanderbilt. I didn't watch full games though, so not sure if the D, which was really bad last year in college, has also improved. If so, he should find his way to the league with time.

Another good example of why I believe the the G is a better development path for many players than the NCAA.
Many people cried foul when he left Vandy and entered his name in the draft but the G has seemed like a better place to develop for Simi. Brissett & Dort clearly made the right call too when many were calling for them to return to school. Wigginton likely made the right call too even if we haven't seen the results yet. The G's purpose is to develop players for professional ranks - the NCAA not so much. It can be a byproduct, but coaches are there to win not to maximize a players development.

[Kenter16]

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While I still believe the Olympics will be a go, the OQT in Victoria is all but officially over. Going to be an interesting few weeks, for everything.

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[aminiaturebuddha]

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While I still believe the Olympics will be a go, the OQT in Victoria is all but officially over. Going to be an interesting few weeks, for everything.

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If that ends up being the case, I wonder how they would structure the Olympic tournament. Will they just go with the teams they have now and re-schedule the games? Will they try to fill the additional slots some other way? Maybe by current FIBA ranking (in which case Canada gets screwed), or just fall back to FIBA's standard operating procedure of "whichever country's national program gives us the biggest bribe is in" (in which case Canada is likely also screwed)?

Whatever the case is, I think this unfortunately means that our dreams of seeing Canada's men's team in the 2020 Olympics is over. While obviously not the biggest concern these days, it still sucks.

[OntZags]

If that ends up being the case, I wonder how they would structure the Olympic tournament. Will they just go with the teams they have now and re-schedule the games?

I can only imagine the amount of logistical scrambling happening in Japan right now. One has to assume the overwhelmingly most likely scenario is they just roll with the 8 teams qualified. The hoops required to go thru to get it to 12 just don't seem reasonable at this juncture. Nobody can really complain either since every team had the chance to already have qualified.

Sucks obviously but way she goes. FWIW, 2024 should be this generations' peak.

[mathgeek]

I think it makes sense to move the Olympics to next year. In this case, Canada might still have a chance at getting in, if players show up to the qualifying tournament.

[Bobby Plump]

With the NBA looking at playoff basketball from June to August and the Olympic officials still planning a July event in Tokyo possibly to no fans, just TV cameras, that would skuttle Olympic and qualifying tournament involvement for players on NBA playoff teams.

On the plus side, Rui would likely be able to play for the host nation being on the Wizards.

[mojo13]

With the NBA looking at playoff basketball from June to August and the Olympic officials still planning a July event in Tokyo possibly to no fans, just TV cameras, that would skuttle Olympic and qualifying tournament involvement for players on NBA playoff teams.

On the plus side, Rui would likely be able to play for the host nation being on the Wizards.

Because I'm bored and in need of some roster-bating - let play a hypothetical game that this turns out like the Hockey WCs and guys who miss the NBA playoffs can still play. Assume they end the regular season as is.

Best case we still could put a decent team in play:

CoJo /T Ennis
Barrett / NAW / Mulder
Wiggins
Trey Lyles / Wiltjer / Ejim

Decent guards/wings at least. Owen Klassen might be the starting center though! Oof. Bunch of other Euro and G talent to fill the holes?

Better than the WC team by a mile....


Alas....who knows what's in store....or if any of these guys would play even if they could.


A 1 year postponement of the Olympics may be the best case Team Canada fans can hope for. Too many other scenarios out there would be really bad for Canada.

[frumble]

A 1 year postponement of the Olympics may be the best case Team Canada fans can hope for. Too many other scenarios out there would be really bad for Canada.

IOC saying they will make decision within four weeks. I think postponement is most likely outcome. And I agree that one-year postponement might be best case (depending on timing of Olympics, and if 2020/21 NBA season extends later than normal).

[Kenter16]

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There you have it. Some outside pressure to move the games. Hopefully they do so we can send a team next summer.

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[OntZags]

A 1 year postponement of the Olympics may be the best case Team Canada fans can hope for. Too many other scenarios out there would be really bad for Canada.

IOC saying they will make decision within four weeks. I think postponement is most likely outcome. And I agree that one-year postponement might be best case (depending on timing of Olympics, and if 2020/21 NBA season extends later than normal).

I think there is zero chance it happens in 2020. Japan & the IOC are simply playing a game of chicken to figure out how the bill gets sorted out.

It'll either be postponed or perhaps even outright cancelled, which would be crushing for so many athletes whose peak window is right now. :/

[mojo13]

A 1 year postponement of the Olympics may be the best case Team Canada fans can hope for. Too many other scenarios out there would be really bad for Canada.

IOC saying they will make decision within four weeks. I think postponement is most likely outcome. And I agree that one-year postponement might be best case (depending on timing of Olympics, and if 2020/21 NBA season extends later than normal).

I think there is zero chance it happens in 2020. Japan & the IOC are simply playing a game of chicken to figure out how the bill gets sorted out.

It'll either be postponed or perhaps even outright cancelled, which would be crushing for so many athletes whose peak window is right now. :/

Dick Pound saying they have already decided on postponement.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/23/olympics-2020-ioc-member-tokyo-games-postponed-dick-pound-coronavirus/2899848001/



Now the concern to watch is if the NBA drastically adjusts their season schedule so they are in-season June, July and even August making NBA players unavailable. Same with EuroLeague to a lesser degree (but this would probably give us a better chance in the Qualifiers as it would disproportionally impact Euro teams). At least it gives guys like Stauskas, Pangos, Ejim time to heal and some of the younger non-NBA players to continue to mature.

[OntZags]

Now the concern to watch is if the NBA drastically adjusts their season schedule so they are in-season June, July and even August making NBA players unavailable. Same with EuroLeague to a lesser degree (but this would probably give us a better chance in the Qualifiers as it would disproportionally impact Euro teams). At least it gives guys like Stauskas, Pangos, Ejim time to heal and some of the younger non-NBA players to continue to mature.

I think we can effectively rule out this season at this juncture. It's not coming back. Ideally the NBA will be good to go by October but that is even starting to feel optimistic at this point. There was discussions of possibly lowering the # of games in a season even prior to COVID so it is possible this could be the impetus to maybe shorten the NBA season permanently.

While the NBA's main priority is the NBA itself, SIlver & Co. know full well the material benefit to be gained from Olympic exposure and growing the game internationally so hopefully they will be able to make it work.

As much as I want to see Canada's 'A' team, I think it would be an even bigger shame to never get to see Lebron/Curry team up in the Olympics. Could you imagine Davis-Durant-Lebron-Kawhi-Curry? Harden as your 6th man spark plug off the bench lol.

[aminiaturebuddha]

So because there are a lot of things that we don't know right now, I'm going to do a purely hypothetical exercise. I'm going to assume that this NBA season is essentially over, and that the NBA tries to gear up for another full season next year. I'm also going to posit that the postponement of the Olympics is for a full year, and everything just shifts one year down the road for the schedule, including the qualifying tournament.

In that scenario, who are the Canadian NBA players who might have contract issues next summer rather than this summer?

Kelly Olynyk - if he exercises his player option this year instead of getting a deal done, he would be a free agent
Khem Birch - will be a 2021 free agent
Trey Lyles - will be a 2021 free agent

That should be it. So we might be lacking some front court depth, but nothing too terrible if Olynyk gets a deal this summer.

On the other hand, the following players would be in the middle of their rookie contracts:
SGA
RJ Barrett
NAW
Mifondu Kabengele
Brandon Clarke

Lu Dort, Chris Boucher, Oshae Brissett, and Marial Shayok will all need to work out deals this summer, but you would think that Dort and Boucher at least will be signing multi-year deals, and therefore shouldn't have contract issues next summer.

The following players will be in the middle of long-term contracts:
Jamal Murray
Cory Joseph
Dillon Brooks
Andrew Wiggins
Dwight Powell (and will hopefully be healthy by then)
Tristan Thompson (I assume he'll get a multi-year deal this summer)

So in terms of availability, barring major injuries and simple lack of interest, next year should be pretty decent for Canada. It'll also mean an extra year of experience for some of the key young players like SGA, Clarke, and Barrett.

The big question will be if the momentum from all the commitments this year gets lost. Hopefully not. It sucks we're not going to be able to watch Canada try to qualify and possibly play in the Olympics this summer, but next year may actually turn out to be a good year for us instead.

[Kenter16]

So because there are a lot of things that we don't know right now, I'm going to do a purely hypothetical exercise. I'm going to assume that this NBA season is essentially over, and that the NBA tries to gear up for another full season next year. I'm also going to posit that the postponement of the Olympics is for a full year, and everything just shifts one year down the road for the schedule, including the qualifying tournament.

In that scenario, who are the Canadian NBA players who might have contract issues next summer rather than this summer?

Kelly Olynyk - if he exercises his player option this year instead of getting a deal done, he would be a free agent
Khem Birch - will be a 2021 free agent
Trey Lyles - will be a 2021 free agent

That should be it. So we might be lacking some front court depth, but nothing too terrible if Olynyk gets a deal this summer.

On the other hand, the following players would be in the middle of their rookie contracts:
SGA
RJ Barrett
NAW
Mifondu Kabengele
Brandon Clarke

Lu Dort, Chris Boucher, Oshae Brissett, and Marial Shayok will all need to work out deals this summer, but you would think that Dort and Boucher at least will be signing multi-year deals, and therefore shouldn't have contract issues next summer.

The following players will be in the middle of long-term contracts:
Jamal Murray
Cory Joseph
Dillon Brooks
Andrew Wiggins
Dwight Powell (and will hopefully be healthy by then)
Tristan Thompson (I assume he'll get a multi-year deal this summer)

So in terms of availability, barring major injuries and simple lack of interest, next year should be pretty decent for Canada. It'll also mean an extra year of experience for some of the key young players like SGA, Clarke, and Barrett.

The big question will be if the momentum from all the commitments this year gets lost. Hopefully not. It sucks we're not going to be able to watch Canada try to qualify and possibly play in the Olympics this summer, but next year may actually turn out to be a good year for us instead.

It seems like we are better setup for next summer... except for the coach. His original contract was til the end of the 2020 Olympics.

"Canada Basketball says Nurse’s contract runs through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics."

https://globalnews.ca/news/5424378/nick-nurse-coach-canada-mens-basketball-team/

I would imagine that he get another contract or maybe it is just extended automatically because the olympics moved. Something to keep an eye on whenever we regain some normalcy.

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