After various players dropped out from Team USA contention for the FIBA World Cup, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been added to the training camp roster.
Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been added onto USA Basketball’s training camp roster for FIBA World Cup, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 22, 2019
Brown's Celtics teammate wing Jaylen Brown could be on the shortlist to replace other USA Basketball dropouts too, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Monday saw various players like Tobias Harris, Zion Williamson and Bradley Beal remove their names for selection for the team that will compete in the quadrennial affair in China this summer. Team USA has won the gold in the past two FIBA World Cup tournaments and went home with the bronze in 2006.
Smart is coming off of his fifth year in the NBA. The 6-foot-4 Oklahoma State product is the longest tenured member of the Celtics, and his invitation to USA Basketball adds another accolade to his transformation into a veteran and a leader on the team.
Smart averaged 8.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game last season, appearing in 80 games and shooting 42.2 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from deep and 80.6 percent from the free throw line. In his five-year tenure with the Celtics, the 25-year-old defense-first guard has accumulated career averages of 9.3 points, 3.5 rebound and 3.9 assists in 341 regular-season contests.
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