The FIBA World Cup was last played in 2019, and things did not go as planned for Team USA. After going a perfect 3-0 in the group stage of the tournament, USA Basketball lost to Serbia and France in the knockout stages, failing to place or win the competition altogether.

With the World Cup on the horizon at the end of August, Team USA is looking to redeem themselves and prove to the rest of the world that they are still the dominant force in the basketball world that we have known decade after decade. This year's squad is very inexperienced when it comes to international basketball, though.

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has taken over the reins as head coach of the program, and the roster he will look to lead to a championship is highlighted by four NBA All-Stars: Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Brandon Ingram (New Orleans Pelicans), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies) and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers).

Set to play their first game of the tournament on August 26th, the Americans have begun their preparations with the start of training camp in Las Vegas earlier this week. Kerr spoke with his young stars about what it means to represent their country and what their expectations should be.

“The idea is that we are here to give you the very best possible experience that we can,” Kerr told the team on Thursday. “We are going to give you everything we have as a staff and you guys are going to give us everything you have and it'll be an amazing experience.”

Training camp in preparation for the FIBA World Cup has already gotten underway, as the 12-man roster scrimmaged the Select Team on Friday, a group made up of other NBA talents such as former first overall pick Cade Cunningham from the Detroit Pistons, Jalen Green from the Houston Rockets, and 2022-23 All-Rookie performer Keegan Murray from the Sacramento Kings. This young group ended up defeating the national team in two consecutive 10-minute scrimmages, according to the Washington Post's Ben Golliver.

Obviously this will spark some cause for concern, but the fact of the matter is that there are still a few weeks until the actual competition gets going, and the select team beating the actual team is a trend that has been going on for years. Even All-Star Kyrie Irving chimed in on this conversation via Twitter, stating it happens and the team going overseas to compete on the world's stage will be fine.

Team USA and all of their young stars will have their hands full at the 2023 World Cup, especially since this is not the usual USA team consisting of talents such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and other superstars. With Ingram, Edwards, and others leading the charge for this year's group, the question everyone is asking is:

Who will ultimately be a part of the starting lineup at the end of the month?

Kerr and his coaching staff definitely have some big decisions to make, but out of the players on their roster, the decision of the starting rotation should be somewhat simple given the firepower some of these stars possess on the offensive-end of the floor.

Who will start for Team USA?

There truly is no criteria that determines who starts in the FIBA World Cup for Team USA. This will be a decision that Kerr and the coaching staff make based on their evaluations over the next few weeks in training camp and based on who truly embraces this opportunity ahead of them.

Nobody has locked up a starting spot yet and none of these five players may end up starting. But if the tournament began tomorrow, it is safe to say that USA's starting lineup would look something like this:

Backcourt: G Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), G Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Frontcourt: G/F Mikal Bridges, F Brandon Ingram, F/C Jaren Jackson Jr.

In the backcourt, Edwards is clearly the best scoring talent this USA squad has and quite honestly, he may be the best player on this roster. Coming off his third NBA season, Edwards averaged 24.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and 36.9 percent from three-point range. All of these marks were new career-highs for him.

He finished sixth in the league in total points and 16th in the league in scoring, which is why the Timberwolves rewarded him with a new five-year max extension that could reach $260 million in total this offseason.

Next to Edwards in the backcourt, it would make the most sense for USA Basketball to choose Jalen Brunson over Tyrese Haliburton. This is not saying one player is better than the other, but Brunson has proven to be the slightly better scorer and he would compliment the play of the young T-Wolves star well since he often looks to attack the basket.

Haliburton's abilities to be a primary playmaker and get his teammates open would make him an instant source of production coming off the bench for this team. In all honesty, though, Kerr can't go wrong with starting either point guard. Austin Reaves is another player who could wind up being a highly impactful bench player.

Out on the wing, Mikal Bridges, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Cameron Johnson, and Paolo Banchero will all be fighting for a starting spot. Ingram is the best scorer out of all five of these players, as he's coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 24.7 points per game. The Pelicans' All-Star should undoubtedly get a starting spot on this team, making Bridges and Banchero the next two likely names to be inserted into the starting lineup.

Should Team USA want a stronger, taller lineup, Banchero will be their choice at power forward. However, Bridges' two-way abilities and the high-level scoring he showcased with the Brooklyn Nets this past season makes him a dynamic option to play alongside Ingram at the small forward spot.

At the center position, Jaren Jackson Jr. is the likely choice, as Bobby Portis tends to thrive in a sixth man-like role, and Walker Kessler is coming off of an impressive rookie season.

Brunson, Edwards, Bridges, Ingram and Jackson Jr. present USA Basketball with a very strong starting group that should be able to contend against any other country in the world. In terms of one dark-horse contender for a starting role, look no further than New York Knicks swingman Josh Hart.

Over the course of his now six-year NBA career, Hart has proven to be a “jack of all trades” type of player. With the Knicks, he was a primary rebounder, a playmaker, a spot-up three-point shooter in the corner and Hart was able to defend virtually every position. Playing alongside his former Villanova Wildcat teammates in Brunson and Bridges, he will definitely be utilized more than many would anticipate.

“It’s not easy, because usually you’re talking about 12 starters in the NBA. … These guys are all starters and great players,” Kerr said recently regarding Team USA's roster and potential starting group, via ESPN's Tim Bontemps. “Part of the FIBA commitment is none of that stuff matters. There’s no contracts on the line. Nobody’s getting traded. This is just us for six weeks, and I expect the same thing to happen here is what happened in [2021, for the Olympics] and in [2019, for the World Cup], in terms of the buy-in and the effort and the energy and the intensity, and, we’ll see what happens.”

This should end up being a very interesting and intriguing FIBA World Cup, especially with Spain, the reining champions, fielding an impressive roster highlighted by Juancho and Willy Hernangomez, as well as Santi Aldama and Usman Garuba. Team Canada will also be a tough team to defeat, as they will be led by big names such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, and RJ Barrett.