Pretty sure Ant said he’s not playing in the World Cup anymore, only the Olympics.

Have a feeling USA is going to send their B team and lose to France or Canada.

Feels like every 10 years we go through this same cycle lol. The 2014 team was supposed to be that transition with Rose/Curry/Harden but injuries changed the whole timeline. Now it’s Ant/Haliburton/Banchero’s turn. Would be cool to see Cade get a real run in 2027, his game translates well internationally. The 2028 Olympic roster is gonna look nothing like what we’re used to seeing — first post-Lebron/KD era USA team since 2008.

I feel like nobody but ANT is a lock tbh, it’s gonna be super competitive.

It will be good.

The main problem for the US is just getting players to play in the World Cup. If the players don’t change their opinion on the competition we could see another B or even C level team like last time. The US will be good regardless because of the depth of talent, but I’d suspect less than half of the Olympic team will play in the World Cup.

Duren
Flagg
Dybansta
Reaves
Cade
Paolo
Boozer
Peterson
Mobley
Jalen Johnson
Harper
Castle

It will be really good, they will send Dybantsa and Flagg Ant Brunson 100% Etc… Basically something like Olympics Team USA lol. (Also i feel like the 2027 Basketball World Cup will be INSANE it will be the most competitive in history and the viewership and popularity of it will explode).

Very impressive considering Scottie Barnes will be on it

I’ve been wondering if the US sends mostly college/rookie guys since they’re auto-qualified for the 2028 Olympics and have never really taken the world cup super seriously in the past.

Harper-Castle-Dybantsa-Flagg-Clingan

I’m not American but it should be the Olympics 2028 team, you can’t just rely on being the better players anymore. You need a team that works together and know each other.

we usually don’t send the best possible team for the world cup. for whatever reason, the biggest stars seem to care more about the Olympics.

USA should still win though.

I think a team with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown sounds like it’d be pretty talented!

There will be a few guys who can go to the Olympics whenever they want if they decide they want to. But for a lot of the younger guys, or first time on the team guys, playing the WC should be a prerequisite for the next year’s Olympics

I think it depends on whether FIBA actually gets the buy-in this time around. The issue with 2023 wasn’t really the talent, it was that the team had almost no time together. If USA Basketball treats 2027 as prep for 2028 instead of an afterthought, the roster could be really solid - guys like Haliburton, Banchero, Chet, Mobley type of core. But if stars skip it like they usually do, we’re looking at another fight for bronze.

Gonna assume it’s like how it’s always been, where the “Olympic locks” won’t go (Ant, Tatum, Booker, Bam, Hali). Also because the US is auto-qualified for the Olympics it’s likely the coaching staff is gonna mess around more with lineups so to me feels like it’ll be:

PG: Cade/Castle
SG: J-Dub/Harper
SF: Scottie/Murphy/Flagg
PF: Chet/Paolo/AJ
C: Kessler/Duren

Paolo/Kessler are back as the fiba“vets”. If Cade has another 1st team season they might just pass him straight through to the Olympic squad and let reaves get his lick back. Center position is the shakiest, Flagg might be the starting SF by next year. Should be pretty good talent-wise but a lot of experimenting.

Edit: I forgot Dylan Harper is Filipino, replace him with bronny Podz Darryn Peterson

Players rarely come back for FIBA twice nowadays, if they do, usually it’s not the top top talent, it’s someone who still wants to prove it and fight for Olympics

With that in mind, 12-man group I’d suggest:

Guards: Harper, Castle, Kon, Keyonte (first to fall off if Spo goes for 3 bigs which is likely)

Wings: Coop, AJ, Jalen Johnson, Amen

Bigs: Duren, Chet (3rd/alt if Chet or Duren don’t go: Jarrett Allen or Mobley? to showcase themselves for Olympics/new contracts; Clingan)

[deleted]

They need it to test run young options at center prior to the Olympics, where they currently have a glaring hole. Bam will likely be in but they lack size and there’s either limited skill set big guys or injury prone old guys as next best options.

it’s not, it’s going to be some young future stars and some relatively young good role players

I’d be surprised any star older than 25 goes

I wish Josh Hart could be on the team if enough people decline, but I think he isn’t interested in offseason basketball

Get rid of all the old guys

I think the next Olympics will be the first time the US is not even close to being the best team out there. At best they winning silver but I genuinely doubt they reach that far considering the inmense talent teams like France and Canada have