Pacers’ Myles Turner seems likely to make Team USA for FIBA World Cup
The Indiana Pacers could end up having representation on Team USA in the FIBA World Cup this fall. Myles Turner seems to have a real shot to make the team.
Indiana Pacers‘ center Myles Turner is undeniably a rising talent in the NBA, and people are taking notice. Earlier this year, he was selected to the 20-man training camp roster for the Team USA men’s basketball team. While this was a great honor in itself, Myles kind of seemed like a longshot to make the final World Cup roster with some of the other big men that were on the team too.
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Turner’s competition to make the final cut included players like Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Kevin Love, and Brook Lopez for possible Team USA centers. There’s a case to put Myles ahead of some of these guys, but it still would have been a pretty tight race to select Anthony Davis‘ backup, who would’ve been the clear-cut starter from these choices.
Interestingly enough, however, players have been withdrawing their names left and right from consideration to make the actual team that will compete in China this fall. To this point, 9 guys have decided to stay home, including Anthony Davis and Kevin Love, as well as wings and guards such as DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Eric Gordon, Tobias Harris, and C.J. McCollum.
Some guys are withdrawing from consideration to focus on their upcoming NBA seasons, while others simply might not want to risk injury by playing extra, high-level basketball contests before the actual regular season tips off.
Regardless of other’s reasons for staying home, making the Team USA final roster would be an enormous accomplishment for Myles Turner. He’d get to learn from the great basketball minds on the coaching staff like Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr, as well as get the chance to play alongside star talent the likes of which he hasn’t been a part of before.
With everyone dropping out, it seems the top center options are Brook Lopez, Andre Drummond, and Myles himself. These are all fine players, but Lopez and Turner’s abilities to stretch the floor seem to fit international play better than Drummond’s bruising post game.
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With the FIBA World Cup less than 37 days away, we should find out soon if Myles Turner makes the cut. For updates on this situation and all other Indiana Pacers news stories, stay tuned to 8 Points, 9 Seconds.