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As NBA superstars continue to decline invitations to play in the FIBA World Cup next month in China, Gregg Popovich is looking at all sorts of permutations to give Team USA a shot at gold, or at least a medal.
That includes drawing talent from the USA Select Team, the group that’s volunteered to be the practice team for the big club. Among those players on the USA Select team are Jarrett Allen and Joe Harris. Now it looks like at least Harris has a shot at joining Team USA.
AP’s Tim Reynolds reported Sunday night...
The fluxing of the USA Basketball roster continues: De’Aaron Fox and Joe Harris, both brought to Vegas as select-team members, will practice with the national team when camp opens Monday.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) August 5, 2019
No word yet on whether that means he could be added to the Team USA roster.
As of Sunday, Popovich had 15 players vying for the 12 final spots on Team USA. But there are some imbalances in that group which could lead to changes. Fox, for example, could become the third point guard on the final roster. There could also be more defections.
Harris and Allen arrived Sunday in Las Vegas for the opening of camp.
Joe Harris et Jarrett Allen avec Team USA.
— Brooklyn Nets France (@BrooklynNets_Fr) August 5, 2019
| @USABasketball pic.twitter.com/itKtIfFkMg
Harris led the NBA in three point shooting last season, hitting 47.4 percent of his shots and won the three-point shooting contest at All-Star Weekend. He also has the 11th highest career three point percentage —42.7 percent— in NBA history.
Should Harris or Allen make Team USA, they’d be facing two trips to China between now and the opening of regular season. Team USA will travel to Australia at the end of month for two exhibition games before heading to China. The Nets and Lakers play in Shanghai and Shenzhen in an October preseason series.
USA National Team members expected at the opening of World Cup training camp Monday include Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat); Harrison Barnes (Sacramento Kings); Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics); Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers); Brook Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks); Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors); Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks); Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz); Mason Plumlee (Denver Nuggets), Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics); Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics); P.J. Tucker (Houston Rockets); Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers); Kemba Walker (Boston Celtics); and Thaddeus Young (Chicago Bulls).
Meanwhile, in Australia, Nets training camp invite Deng Adel spoke about how thrilled he is to play Team USA in Melbourne, his hometown in Australia.
BOOMERS | One of the younger faces at the Boomers camp, @Foreverdeng speaks ️ about the potential of playing in front of family and friends at @marvelstadiumau for #BoomersUSA! #VisitMelbourne pic.twitter.com/PGGd6o5nIx
— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) August 5, 2019
Team USA and the Boomers will play two games at Marvel Stadium, capacity 57,000, on August 22 and 24.