Another leap year, another gold medal for the U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball team. There were a couple of nail-biters along the way against both Serbia and France, but was there really any doubt as to the eventual outcome? A 30-point shellacking of the Serbians put to rest any doubt that the gap had narrowed between international teams that had their players joined at the hips on an annual basis and a loosely associated group of the NBA‘s best that managed to transform their All-Star Weekend antics to FIBA fundamentals just in time for the medal round.
Perhaps the real intrigue is yet to come; namely, how will the participants fare in the coming 2016-17 season? Despite the fact that these are allegedly the league’s best players (or at least the ones willing to brave the Zika virus, murky green water and the tall tales of Ryan Lochte), many of them have new teams, new teammates and/or new coaches awaiting them following their successful campaign in Rio.
The following is a rundown of a few members of the U.S. Men’s Olympic basketball roster with dramatic changes ahead.
A Look Ahead for Key Players on the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team
Carmelo Anthony
Now that LeBron James has won an NBA championship for his hometown city, Anthony might be the most polarizing figure in the league. Despite his general notoriety, Anthony may have taken a step towards respectability in the eyes of the haters by claiming his third goal medal for the U.S. since 2004.
Now back in the States, he will have an opportunity to provide the New York Knicks with a modicum of credibility just by qualifying for the playoffs. Rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis is still in tow, but the other starters have been replaced with swingman Courtney Lee and former Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. On paper this should be a playoff contender, but with Noah only playing in 29 games last season and Rose’s litany of maladies the Knicks might find themselves relying on their depth – or lack of it – to determine their playoff credentials.
Harrison Barnes
As the lone “20-20” player (i.e. only playing when the team was 20 points up or 20 points down) on the U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball team, Barnes became a bit of a laughing stock as he was often sitting idly on the bench next to Coach Mike Krzyzewski while the remainder of the roster received ample playing time by comparison. We’ll probably never know whether Kyzyzewski was truly that skeptical of Barnes’ abilities or whether it was due to hatred of former UNC players by Duke‘s longstanding field general, but it did seem odd that the fourth member of the Golden State Warriors starting lineup for the past two seasons wasn’t featured more often for purposes of continuity alone.
Regardless, Barnes is probably laughing all the way to the bank since the Dallas Mavericks signed him to a max deal in the off-season, completing possibly the most curious iteration of signees around incumbent Dirk Nowitzki that also featured former Golden State Warrior Andrew Bogut and Stephen Curry‘s brother, Seth Curry. While it’s highly unlikely that this poor man’s version of the defending Western Conference Champions will finish higher than the seventh or eighth seed, it will still be interesting to see how the displaced and off-maligned Barnes performs under the spotlight.
Jimmy Butler
Butler’s rapid ascendancy to elite level culminated (so far) with his appearance on the Olympic squad. But Butler still has a lot to prove on the hardwood, as he is now a leader on a Chicago Bulls team that lost Pau Gasol and the aforementioned Rose and Noah in the off-season. 2015-16 was truly transitional under new coach Fred Hoiberg, and the mass exodus seems to indicate that an overhaul was needed for the team to effectively execute Hoiberg’s up-tempo scheme.
Joining the (mostly) new look Bulls are native Chicagoan Dwyane Wade and the combustible Rajon Rondo. Robin Lopez quietly should provide stability in the middle, but between Wade’s history of injuries and Rondo’s history of attitude problems there could be more question marks than what the Knicks are facing. Holdovers Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis provide versatile depth but the marquee names will probably dictate the team’s fortunes in the short term.
DeMarcus Cousins
Cousins had a tremendous 2015-16 campaign for the Sacramento Kings despite somehow coexisting in a wildly erratic environment with Rondo and coach George Karl. Both Rondo and Karl are gone now, but adding Ty Lawson and Matt Barnes to the mix is not exactly a recipe for stability either. At least Barnes played for new coach Dave Joerger when they were in Memphis together, so perhaps that continuity will trump the potential for continued chaos.
Of course all of this is moot if the team can’t show an improved commitment to defense, as the Kings were dead last in opponents’ PPG last season (109.1), despite being third overall in scoring (106.6 PPG). If nothing else Barnes and fellow newcomer Aaron Afflalo (another former UCLA Bruin) should provide some grit on the perimeter so Cousins can continue to be a scoring machine both inside and out of the paint.
Main Photo
Basketball – Olympics: Day 14 Carmelo Anthony #15 of United States rebounds during the United States Vs Spain Men’s Basketball Semifinal during the Men’s Basketball Tournament at Carioca Arena1on August 19, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
