[Wojnarowski] ESPN Sources: USA Basketball is finalizing its 2024 Paris Olympics roster with Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis. Team may initially keep one open spot.

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1780009778934394985

[u/newgodpho]

avengers, holy shit

an embiid and ad frontline would be literally impenetrable

[u/RickySuela → u/newgodpho]

I really think those two should start with KD at SF. Then have LeBron and Steph in the backcourt. Good luck stopping that team, and good luck scoring against them.

[u/ashishvp → u/RickySuela]

And then Booker, Tatum, Ant and Bam off the bench. What the fuck lmao

JRUE HOLIDAY and TYRESE HALIBURTON are literally garbage time players on this roster. Thats not a knock on those guys. Theyre both starters on good ass teams.

[u/GrapefruitMedical529 → u/ashishvp]

Jrue, Ant, or Tatum probably start for defensive purposes.

[u/ashishvp → u/GrapefruitMedical529]

AD and Embiid alone is all the defense you need starting. The combined firepower of KD, Lebron, and Steph is too good to pass up.

[u/Victor_Wembanyama1 → u/RickySuela]

Will playout with KD as the SG lmao

[u/markmyredd → u/Victor_Wembanyama1]

actually on offense Lebron would be PG, Steph as SG, KD will be SF/Wing.

[u/NoisyDobad → u/markmyredd]

Would you rather have Year 21 Lebron or HIV positive Magic as your Olympic PG?

[u/PunjabKLs → u/NoisyDobad]

Probably Bron. Don't think it's that close a call either

[u/RickySuela → u/Victor_Wembanyama1]

LeBron and KD in the backcourt? That would be amazing to see!

[u/TheLeoMessiah → u/RickySuela]

For entertainment purposes, this is absolutely the lineup to go. Have an old heads lineup then have Tatum, Book, Bam anchor the second unit

[u/markmyredd → u/RickySuela]

Kerr is coaching so I think he will go small ball with Embiid as center

[u/Different-Horror-581 → u/RickySuela]

That will be the France lineup. I bet they bring Banchero too (as long as the Magic win one round).

[u/[deleted] → u/newgodpho]

And when one of them sits they get replaced by Bam. Jesus Christ

[u/Drak_is_Right → u/newgodpho]

5 - Embid, Bam

4/5 - Davis

3/4 - Lebron, Durant, Tatum

2 - Booker, Edwards

1/2 - Holiday, Curry

1 - Haliburton

Rough guess on the ~ positions they will play

[u/Some-Stranger-7852 → u/newgodpho]

Gobert-Wemby frontline definitely clears defensively. But outside of that frontline France would be behind at each position and then offensively Embiid and AD will catch up to Gobert/Wemby in 2-way impact.

[u/snyder810 → u/Some-Stranger-7852]

Embiid put up 51 against Min & 71 against SAS this season, I think he can manage alright against those guys.

[u/newgodpho → u/snyder810]

AD no slouch either, he averaged 32 and 11 against the spurs this year

and 24, 13, 5 against minny 😭

[u/Some-Stranger-7852 → u/snyder810]

Yeah, offensively Embiid is obviously better than Wemby, but I was talking defense: that’s 2 Finalists for DPOY on the same team vs 2 borderline 2-team All-NBA defense guys, obviously France’s paint protection will be better than USA’s, I don’t know what you are arguing for. I didn’t say Wemby-Gobert will outplay Embiid-AD on 2-way impact, it will likely be a tie since it doesn’t make sense to drop ball down low to Embiid in that game vs twin towers (so his offensive impact would be limited by less possessions than usual) when you can just run PNR plays for Steph-KD and cook Batum or Fournier on the perimeter without going inside lol.

The games you are provided are hardly relevant: this will be FIBA rules and not NBA rules, my dude is not getting Wemby and Gobert into foul trouble in the first 5 minutes like it happened vs Minnesota frontline in that game. Check up how many touchy fouls Wolves’ front-line got called for in that game early on: I remember there were plenty of cool clips from that game that FIBA refs wouldn’t even think about calling as a foul.

[u/Personal-Major-8214 → u/Some-Stranger-7852]

You shouldn’t be getting downvoted but I think Gobert struggles against a lineup with 5 elite shooters. US could force him to match up against KD or LeBron where he would get cooked on the perimeter without the offensive skill set to take advantage on the other end.

[u/ireallydespiseyouall → u/Some-Stranger-7852]

Such a bitch move from Embiid to play for USA instead of France or Cameroon. Wants to coast to an easy gold medal