By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Team USA has suffered many losses on terms of players selected for the 2019 FIBA World Cup and later deciding to forego the tournament set to take place at China between August 31st and September 15th. Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, DeMar DeRozan is latest player in Gregg Popovich’s list that will skip the World Cup.
Sources: San Antonio Spurs‘ DeMar DeRozan was added onto the original USA Basketball roster for World Cup one month ago, but the four-time All-Star has withdrawn from Team USA play this summer to focus on upcoming NBA season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 23, 2019
Harrison Barnes, Jaylen Brown, Andre Drummond, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Kevin Love, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Paul Millsap, Donovan Mitchell, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, P.J. Tucker, Myles Turner, Kemba Walker and Thaddeus Young are players still left in the current squad.
It seems like many players have already locked on the 2020 Olympic Games, even though the 2019 FIBA World Cup is first in line. Recent developments might bring additional call-ups and more options for Popovich ahead of the training camp at Las Vegas from August 5th to August 9th. Ultimately, twelve players will remain for the final roster of the World Cup.
USA will kick off its tournament at Shanghai facing the Czech Republic, Turkey and Japan. A top two seeding will lead to Shenzhen and matches against two of Greece, New Zealand, Brazil and Montenegro.