The US Men’s National Basketball team announced their 30 finalists of players eligible to play in the 2016 Summer Olympics. The players listed (in order of number of international games played):
Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, Chris Paul, Rudy Gay, Steph Curry, Dwight Howard, Andre Iguoudala, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Andre Drummond, Klay Thompson, Demarcus Cousins, Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, Kenneth Faried, Demar DeRozan, Gordon Hayward, Dendre Jordan, Jeff Green, Michael Conley, Harrison Barnes, John Wall, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Lamarcus Aldridge.
As far as roster locks are concerned, you have to believe that this is what we’re looking at so far:
Guards: Chris Paul, Steph Curry
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James
Centers: Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis
Of course, that’s assuming those players are healthy and want to play. In my personal opinion, there’s a chance you could see Lebron James shut it down if the Cavaliers’ season goes into the Finals but they lose. As much of a letdown it would be to his brand, I would argue that longevity and health are two things he’s starting to become concerned about.
That list above is only six players, which means that there’s room for six more players. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Westbrook, Faried, and Paul George make the roster. Also there are rumblings that Dwight Howard is considered a lock because of previous commitments he’s made to USA Basketball–even though he doesn’t fit well with the international game at all.