Which Four Players Will Team USA Cut?

In the coming days, Team USA will have some tough decisions to make. They will need to cut four more players before heading to Spain to play their final exhibition game against Slovenia on August 26. With a talented roster, who will Team USA cut?

Kyle Korver – In two exhibition games, Korver has yet to hit the floor, but he may see some minutes on Friday against Puerto Rico to have the opportunity to show off his skills. However, Korver’s main entrée is three-point shooting. Looking at Team USA’s roster, they already have three terrific three-point shooters – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and James Harden – thus, leaving no room for Kyle Korver. Korver will need to provide more than three-point shooting to earn his keep, but that is unlikely to happen.

Gordon Hayward – On Wednesday evening, Hayward got the chance to play a few minutes. He looked solid on the court, but the services that he could provide for Team USA can be fulfilled by other players such as DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, or James Harden. No question that Hayward is talented but on a team full of other NBA players, his inexperience shows. Hayward is fighting for a roster spot with Gay, DeRozan, Harden, Thompson, and Chandler Parsons, and those guys have outshined Hayward in all aspects thus far.

Mason Plumlee – Team USA needs big men on their roster to match up against Spain, but they will have to bite their tongue and release at least one of their bigs. That one could be Mason Plumlee, who has very little experience as he is coming off his rookie season. Though, he is extremely long and athletic, but Andre Drummond is just as athletic and a rebounding machine. Both Plumlee and Drummond got their fair share of play time on Saturday and Wednesday respectively. Drummond’s play on both ends of the floor Wednesday overshadowed Plumlee’s play on Saturday. In all fairness, Plumlee did play against a tougher Brazil team, but Drummond’s energy, rebounding, and ability to finish around the rim makes him a more viable option, even though it has been previously reported that Drummond is unlikely to make the team.

Damian Lillard – This is probably going to be incredibly hard for Team USA to do but, just like cutting one of their big man, they will have to do the same with one of their four point guards. Derrick Rose’s knee has been bothersome for him the past few days, but it looks like Rose will return to the floor and will not forfeit his spot. This makes for a daunting task for Team USA because they will have to release a young player with supreme talent. However, Lillard has been playing behind Rose, Curry, and Kyrie Irving, and he will have to strictly outplay those guys on Friday to possibly earn a spot on the team. That does not seem likely to happen. In all fairness to Lillard, Rose did not play too well on Saturday, but it seems like Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski really like his leadership and play making skills. This final cut may hurt (pun intended) but with a team like USA that has all NBA players on the roster, decisions like this will have to be made.

These players may or may not get cut, but one thing for sure is that Jerry Colangelo will have some tremendously rough decisions to make in a matter of days. All the guys mentioned above are talented in their own way, so getting cut off a team as great as USA should not be taken personally.