As the NBA’s top talent continues to decline opportunities to play for Team USA in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the Boston Celtics’ presence on the 16-man camp roster grows.
With news this morning of Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and San Antonio Spurs wing DeMar DeRozan joining a host of other high-profile exits from the camp roster, Team USA has invited several additional players to take part in the global contest, including Boston’s longest-tenured player, Marcus Smart, yesterday, accompanied by shooting guard Jaylen Brown today.
Brown may be joined by recent New York Knicks signee Bobby Portis, and even with the growing number of defections, neither is a lock to make the team. The camp roster — which will be pared down to the 12-man final roster playing in the event, taking place in China in the first weeks of September — could end up with as many as four Celtics, as Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker were part of the original group of invitees.
While competition may still be stiff to make the final roster, the enthusiasm shown by guards Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker (and lack of competition in the backcourt after Lillard’s exit) may prove advantageous to the Boston backcourt duo.
A healthy group of wings remaining on the camp roster may make a path for Brown and Tatum to make the 12-man roster a little more fraught but it’s certainly not out of the question a quarter to a third of Team USA may end up wearing green and white this fall.
