{"id":84785,"date":"2024-07-05T13:30:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T17:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=84785"},"modified":"2024-07-05T13:30:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T17:30:54","slug":"paris-olympics-basketball-team-usa-plan-for-starting-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/05\/paris-olympics-basketball-team-usa-plan-for-starting-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Olympics: What\u2019s Team USA\u2019s Plan For Starting Lineup?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard<\/a> confirming he\u2019ll play, Team USA Basketball will have all hands on deck<\/a> as they prepare for the Paris Olympics. With training camp beginning Saturday in Las Vegas, NV, the question is who Team USA\u2019s coaching staff \u2014led by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr \u2014plans to start in out of this illustrious group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great question<\/a>,\u201d Kerr says, per The Athletic\u2019s Joe Vardon.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy staff and I have talked about it quite a bit, it\u2019s a good problem to have, but I think I\u2019m guessing that all 12 players on this roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday. So how do you pick five out of 12? The idea is you find combinations that click and you find two-way lineups that can be effective at both ends. So our big job in Las Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit and to just ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who\u2019s playing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Los Angeles Lakers maestro LeBron James<\/a> \u201cwill likely play point forward for the Americans as a starter, moving (Stephen) Curry off the ball,\u201d Vardon reports.<\/p>\n

In 2023-24, James averaged 25.7 points and 8.3 assists per game. It was his 19th straight season averaging at least 25 points and 6 assists per game. One of the best passers and most intelligent players in basketball history, James is well-suited for the role.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Team USA\u2019s Plan For Starting Lineup?<\/h2>\n

Vardon speculates of the final three starters will be Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant<\/a> and Philadelphia 76ers centerpiece Joel Embiid<\/a> are locks. He considers that one of either Leonard, Lakers big man Anthony Davis<\/a>, or Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday<\/a> will occupy the final spot.<\/p>\n

Durant, the all-time leading scorer in Team USA Basketball\u2019s Olympic history, should have his name carved into the starting lineup. The holder of four Olympic gold medals, his offensive talents will both be welcomed and needed. Indeed, Durant is arguably the most capable isolation scorer on the roster and one of their deadliest snipers.<\/p>\n

Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, could start as well.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just because he\u2019s a force to be reckoned with. Playing like a face-up forward at 7-foot-0 and 280 pounds, Embiid\u2019s averaged at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game over the past three seasons. That\u2019s nothing to sneeze at.<\/p>\n

However, the reason Team USA needs to start him is even simpler than an evaluation of his dominance. As their potential opponents that include three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic<\/a> (Serbia), four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert<\/a> (France), and 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama<\/a> (France), his size will be needed.<\/p>\n

Paging Dr. Holiday<\/h3>\n

Holiday is the best choice to occupy the final slot in the first unit.<\/p>\n

Leonard\u2019s resume outweighs all but that of James, Curry, and Durant\u2019s when compared to his Olympic teammates. However, with James playing point-forward and Curry moving off-ball, they\u2019re lacking a primary guard defender. Though James or Curry could<\/em> lock up a number of backcourt players, it\u2019s Holiday\u2019s specialty. It\u2019s like he got his doctorate in defense.<\/p>\n

Leonard is an excellent defender too. Nonetheless, his talents will be better suited for long wings and strong forwards.<\/p>\n

LeBron James\u2019s Backup<\/h3>\n

The second unit may then feature Leonard alongside Davis, Celtics face of the franchise Jayson Tatum<\/a>, and likely Indiana Pacers floor general Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

James remains the team\u2019s best facilitator due to his precision, creativity, experience, and basketball IQ. Still, he\u2019s 39 years old and only a couple of months removed from his last game. At 24 years old, Haliburton\u2019s youth plays to his advantage, the conductor of Indiana\u2019s fast-paced offense should come into the game and give Team USA a jolt.<\/p>\n

In the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Haliburton was one of the standouts with heady performances on the world stage. The rising star averaged team-highs of 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 47.2 percent from 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard confirming he\u2019ll play, Team USA Basketball will have all hands on deck as they prepare for the Paris Olympics. With training camp beginning Saturday in Las Vegas, NV, the question is who Team USA\u2019s coaching staff \u2014led by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr \u2014plans to start […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":84813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[60,1608,5,11,26,62,13,28],"tags":[239,168,69,38,1052,2081,2607],"class_list":["post-84785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-olympics","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-pacers","category-lakers","category-nba","category-76ers","category-suns","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lebron-james","tag-olympics","tag-team-usa","tag-tyrese-haliburton"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}