The Toronto Raptors’ All-Star backcourt will be suiting up together for USA Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil this August.
DeMar DeRozan will join Kyle Lowry on the Olympic team, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. Lowry was reported to be a part of the team earlier Thursday despite not appearing on the 30-man preliminary roster in January. DeRozan, who was a part of the championship team at the 2015 FIBA World Cup, was on that preliminary roster as a long-time part of the national program.
The roster, as reported so far, is as follows:
PG: Lowry
Wing: DeRozan, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Klay Thompson
Bigs: DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green, DeAndre Jordan
That leaves thwo spots and a gaping hole at the point guard spot. Recent NBA champions LeBron James and Kyrie Irving (and a host of others) have yet to have their status announced, but we know Anthony Davis, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, John Wall, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, Andre Drummond, and Steph Curry are all out.
The Olympic basketball tournament runs Aug. 6-21 in Rio and sees the U.S. paired up with Venezuela, China, Australia, and two teams still to be determined in group play. Luis Scola and Jonas Valanciunas should also end up representing their countries at the event, giving Raptors fans players to root for in the moderately likely event Cory Joseph and team Canada fail to qualify in early July.
That excitement, and the rare opportunity for Lowry and DeRozan to get to represent their country on such a large stage, should outweigh any concerns about fatigue. It’s only a 15-day tournament, and while Lowry and DeRozan ranked seventh and 12th in regular season minutes and sixth and seventh in postseason minutes, it’s not as if they were going to take the entire summer off, anyway. (It may also suggest that Lowry’s elbow is just fine and that DeRozan didn’t have any insurance issues as a free agent, if that matters to you.) This is probably a really big deal to them, and it’s great that they’ll get the chance.
The full roster is expected to be officially announced on Monday.
