Canada Basketball had originally hoped to trim down it’s senior men’s national team roster from 22 to closer to 12 this week, following the conclusion of their one-week training camp in Toronto. They have not, however, and according to Josh Lewneberg of TSN (and based on a vaguely worded release), they’re taking nearly the entire training camp to Italy for a five-game exhibition camp.
Everyone, that is, except for Cory Joseph and Joel Anthony, who are expected to re-join the team later, again per Lewenberg.
If the number “22” stands out as off, that’s because the program added two names during the course of the camp, with Anthony Bennett and Khem Birch joining the original list (and Simi Shittu appears to have accidentally been left off the initial list, which was at 19, though he was in training camp). Bennett was able to sort out an insurance issue in order to play, while Birch opted for national team participation over Summer League action in early July, per (you guessed it) Lewenberg.
The program is also still hoping to add Tristan Thompson following the NBA Finals, with head coach Jay Triano expressing comfort adding a player who’s been a part of the program at a later juncture. According to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, Thompson is still firmly “on the fence” about participating in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in early July. He kind of has bigger things to focus on right now, like his awesome play in the NBA Finals (he’s been so good the last few games).
For now, here’s the group that (we think) is headed to Italy:
| NAME | POSITION | HEIGHT | HOMETOWN | TEAM/SCHOOL |
| Shai Alexander | G | 6’4 | Hamilton, ON | Hamilton Heights Christian Academy |
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| RJ Barrett | G | 6’7 | Mississauga, ON | Montverde Academy |
| Anthony Bennett | F | 6’8 | Toronto, ON | |
| Sim Bhullar | F | 7’5 | Toronto, ON | Raptors 905 |
| Khem Birch | F | 6’9 | Montreal, QC | Usak Sportlif |
| Dillon Brooks | F | 6’7 | Mississauga, ON | Oregon Ducks |
| Chris Boucher | F | 6’10 | Montreal, QC | Oregon Ducks |
| Jason Calliste | G | 6’2 | Toronto, ON | Barons Kvartals Riga |
| Melvin Ejim | F | 6’6 | Toronto, ON | Reyer Venezia |
| Tyler Ennis | G | 6’2 | Brampton, ON | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Brady Heslip | G | 6’2 | Burlington, ON | Pallacanestro Cantu |
| Tyson Hinz | F | 6’7 | Ottawa, ON | Landstede Basketball |
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| Corey Johnson | G | 6’5 | Ottawa, ON | Harvard University |
| Owen Klassen | F | 6’10 | Kingston, ON | Phoenix Hagen |
| Levon Kendall | F | 6’10 | Vancouver, BC | Movistar Estudiantes |
| Naz Mirtou-Long | G | 6’4 | Mississauga, ON | Iowa St. Cyclones |
| Dyshawn Pierre | G | 6’6 | Whitby, ON | Dayton Flyers |
| Philip Scrubb | G | 6’3 | Richmond, BC | Fraport Skyliners |
| Thomas Scrubb | G | 6’6 | Richmond, BC | Giessen 46ers |
| Simisola Shittu | F | 6’9 | Burlington, ON | Montverde |
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How the roster may look when trimmed to 12 is tough to figure. Even if Thompson is added, the group leaves a little something to be desired, as discussed at length last week. Notable by their absence are Dwight Powell and Andrew Nicholson (free agents, and thus unlikely to be insured in time), Jamal Murray and Kyle Wiltjer (going through the draft process and likewise unlikely to be insured in time), Kelly Olynyk (injured), Nik Stauskas (chose not to participate), Trey Lyles (a little strange), Robert Sacre (boogie fever), and of course, Andrew Wiggins, who has opted to focus on the Minnesota Timberwolves this summer.
Additions can still be made, including for the Olympics, should Canada qualify. That’s perhaps a bit of a long-shot, though, as Canada will have to win their Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the Philippines outright to punch their ticket to Brazil. That event takes place July 4-10 and will require Canada to topple the host, Turkey, France, and more.
As a tune-up for that event, Canada now heads to Italy for a five-game exhibition tournament that begins Monday. As a programming note, we won’t cover those tune-up games (though we may do a post-tournament wrap), but we’ll have recaps for the Qualifying Tournament games.
