Make that two straight cycles of the FIBA World Cup that Team USA has failed to deliver gold. The only program-wide silver lining gleaned from the Americans' time on the international stage over the last few weeks? They've already qualified for the 2024 Olympics, an event bound to serve as a reckoning for USA Basketball no matter what transpires in Paris.
Team USA was always going to field a much better Olympic roster than it did at the World Cup. The NBA's biggest, brightest domestic stars have plainly prioritized Olympic gold over FIBA glory ever since former USAB director Jerry Colangelo began a complete overhaul of the national program in 2005—one year after the Americans' bronze-winning nadir at the 2004 Athens Games.
No one should be surprised if the United States' true top players react to their country's latest World Cup loss by banding together with all available comers, following proud, defiant footsteps laid by the ‘Redeem Team' 15 years ago. Like Steve Kerr reiterated following his team's hard-fought loss to Germany in the FIBA semifinals, though, it's “not 1992 anymore,” or even 2008. Nothing is guaranteed for USA Basketball in Paris.
With all that in mind, here's Team USA's ideal roster for the 2024 Olympics following their FIBA World Cup letdown.
Team USA's perfect 2024 Olympics roster
First things first: Some no-brainer roster locks just won't be lending their talents to USA Basketball next year.
LeBron James, an imminent injury risk for years running in his extended prime, will be coming off his 21st NBA campaign next summer, and his 40th birthday will be just months away. The King hasn't worn red, white, and blue since winning his second Olympic gold medal in 2012. It'd be surreal to watch James suit up for his country one last time, but it won't be happening.
Anthony Davis, whose health concerns loom even larger than James', is also highly, highly unlikely to play for Team USA. The same goes for Kawhi Leonard for pretty much the same reason. Count Paul George out, too. Scratch off Zion Williamson's name while you're at it. While Ja Morant is no bastion of health, it's his current off-court image that will keep him from representing squeaky-clean USA Basketball in Paris.
Otherwise, managing director Grant Hill, Kerr, and his decorated coaching staff may essentially have their pick of the United States' best players. Here's what that dream American roster would look like, factoring past international experience, team fit, and Team USA's World Cup foibles into heavy consideration.
Guard: Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton
Wing/Forward: Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges
Big: Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green, Evan Mobley
Go ahead and reserve roster spots for Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker. They all have program equity after previously winning Olympic gold with Team USA, and more importantly, they are all undisputed top-10 players in the world who have proven themselves at the sport's highest levels time and time again.
Age and wear and tear could very well keep Curry and Durant from appearing in another Olympics. But the bitter taste in their mouths left by the United States' FIBA performance and personal relationships with Kerr—while very different—give both extra justification to play.
Anthony Edwards might as well be a lock after taking a clear leap with Team USA this summer. He won't be the Americans' alpha dog in Paris, but ultra-disruptive on-ball defense, burgeoning comfort as a cutter, and two-way athletic force make Edwards an easy choice, despite inevitably scaled-back usage.
Tyrese Haliburton might've been the United States' second-best player at the World Cup, with his otherworldly court sense and processing speed creating countless easy buckets for teammates in the half court and open floor. Every temporary team of stars needs a table-setter like him. Mikal Bridges owns the distinction as Team USA's second-best FIBA performer behind Edwards if Haliburton doesn't. His ability to defend at the point of attack and finish plays as a spot-up shooter, cutter, and transition sprinter makes Bridges the Americans' prototype role-playing wing in Paris.
Joel Embiid holds dual citizenship in France and the U.S. Hill has been quietly recruiting him to Team USA for months, and insisted in August the reigning league MVP wearing red, white and blue is “definitely” a possibility. Embiid is the Americans' starting center if he wants the job.
The optimal way to round out USA Basketball's peak Olympic roster? In wake of its maddening inability to string together stops and corral defensive rebounds at the World Cup, adding four of the best defenders in the world seems like a good bet.
Jrue Holiday won Olympic gold in 2021 and might still be the game's most disruptive on-ball perimeter defender. Bam Adebayo was on that Tokyo Games team, too, and has enough utility as a passer, screener, and finisher to play power forward in a pinch if Team USA is hemorrhaging points. Draymond Green would be this group's emotional leader and defensive coordinator, a deep reserve only called upon to right the ship in choppy waters. Evan Mobley, especially if he keeps adding strength and balance over the next calendar year, is next up in the United States' line of versatile bigs after Jaren Jackson Jr.'s dispiriting FIBA performance.
The world caught up to the United States well over a decade ago. The Americans will still be favorites in every major competition they enter, but the World Cup proved just how little margin for error they have against elite national teams with far more continuity and comfort playing the international game.
Good thing the cavalry will be coming to Paris next summer.