Team USA is officially one-third Team Shamrock, after it was announced Saturday morning all four Boston Celtics players invited to training camp ahead of the 2019 FIBA World Cup roster this summer made the final cut.
The Boston Celtics splash signing this offseason in All-Star point guard Kemba Walker; the longest-tenured Celtics player in guard Marcus Smart; fourth-year swingman Jaylen Brown; and third-year forward Jayson Tatum all were named to Team USA’s final roster, who will travel to China to compete at the end of August.
Their teammates will include forwards Harrison Barnes of the Sacramento Kings and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton; shooting guards Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets’ Joe Harris; point guard Derrick White of the San Antonio Spurs; and centers Brook Lopez of the Bucks, Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets’ Mason Plumlee.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma was the final player cut and reportedly due to an ankle injury that would prevent him from being available in the time period of the competition, helping blunt the blow of being only one of three players cut from a team so many more left voluntarily.
After dropping an exhibition game against the Australian national team Friday evening, a level of urgency largely alien to most previous iterations of Team USA is building steam in discussion about the team’s prospects for medaling.
Early questions about team chemistry seemed evident but it should also be noted one of the team’s primary offensive anchors — former UConn star and recent Boston signee Kemba Walker — came off the bench for the first time in their exhibition matches.
Team USA lost its first game since 2006 with their loss to the Boomers but still have time to build some chemistry in order to counter stronger opponents with longer history playing together and a much bigger chip on their shoulders.
Having four Celtics on the team might be the key to overcoming that. Or, looking back to last season, could wind up being part of the problem.
