Some Philadelphia 76ers fans may have scratched their heads when a list of players invited to the USA Basketball Select Team was revealed on Friday. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the following notable players were invited to participate on USA’s select squad: Victor Oladipo, Marcus Smart, Doug McDermott and Tobias Harris.
One notable player not on that list would of course be the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams. MCW of course put up the best rookie numbers in a landslide, including better than Oladipo.
Well, this evening Marc Stein of ESPN solved the “mystery”. Turns out last year’s top rookie is still recovering from his offseason should surgery and that alone, not a lack of talent or not being impressed with his game, is why he is not on the list of players. According to Stein, he was in fact invited.
Among other players on the roster not mentioned by Wojnarowski are both Miles and Mason Plumlee as well as Tim Hardaway Jr. The players will be in camp for a five-day week starting July 28.
As far as what being a participant on the select team entails, the rookies or other promising young players simply competing against the US National team in drills, practices and scrimmages—in other words, being extra bodies.
It certainly would have been nice for Carter-Williams to be working other talented stars and allowing them to get to know him (potential recruiting advantage for the Sixers down the line?), but he isn’t missing much. By all accounts, his shoulder will be fine and he’ll eventually return to the court with the Sixers’ not-so-USA Nationals-caliber team. So, if anything, the downside to this is it prevents MCW to experience practicing with people that aren’t Casper Ware or Byron Mullens.
