The USA Men's Basketball team have started finalizing their roster for the upcoming 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain. They are now down to a pool of 16 NBA elite talents after cutting 3 players from their roster namely John Wall and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards and Paul Millsap of the Atlanta Hawks according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
"USA Basketball cut Washington's John Wall, Bradley Beal and Atlanta's Paul Millsap today, sources told Yahoo Sports." Worjnarowski said in his Tweet.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski still has four more cuts to make, after the gruesome leg injury suffered by Paul George, to reach the final 12-man roster for Team USA before the August 29 deadline. Ricky O'Donnell of SB Nation believes that the final roster for the US squad will possibly be set by August 23 when the team departs for Spain.
The news of Paul Millsap and Bradley Beal being cut from USA basketball was hardly surprising but John Wall's isn't. Bleacher report was one of the many who reacted when Wall was ousted. Here is what Teem Keeny has to say:
If there's a surprise here, it's Wall... The 23-year-old point guard, however, is fresh off a career year, averaging 19.3 points, 8.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals to help the Washington Wizards to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time in nearly a decade. He also drastically increased his shooting range, finishing with career highs in true shooting percentage (52.4) and effective field-goal percentage (47.3), per Basketball-Reference.com.
Zach Harper of Talkhoops, however, believes that not only would it benefit Wall and Beal to not make it in the US team but help their team the Washington Wizards as well. It would mean more rest for both key players for the Wizards as they enter the 2014-2015 NBA season as one of the rising teams in the East.
Indeed, it would have been monumental for Wall to represent his country in the upcoming FIBA World Cup but the young star still has a lot to look forward to in his blossoming career. And even with Wall's absence, team USA still has plenty of elite talent in the point guard position with Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard, and Stephen Curry still with the roster.
Perhaps, what the USA roster lacks now are Small Forwards with the absence of Paul George as it would leave them with only Kevin Durant, Gordon Hayward, and Chandler Parsons to man the position. Better yet, what they need is a true power forward with Blake Griffin and Kevin Love both declining their participation for the tournament.
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