Paul George Named to US National Team

Paul George has been named to the US men’s national team. 19 players have been selected for the roster to tryout for the 12 man team that will compete in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

The tournament starts on August 30th and runs through September 14th. Players report to the Las Vegas training camp later this month.

Four players from the 2012 US Olympic team are also on the roster. Those players include Kevin Durant, James Harden, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Love.

Gordon Hayward, another player with Indiana ties, also made the roster.

Some of the best players in the country are highlighting the roster.

Players previously invited to camp  include: Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, DeMarcus Cousins, Bradley Beal, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, and Kyle Korver.

DeMar DeRozan, and Chandler Parsons were the only new participants invited to Vegas.

Notably absent from the roster would be LeBron James. James, along with Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, were held out of the World Cup and will likely rejoin the national team for the 2016 Olympics.

Rose will likely have an uphill battle as he spent most of last season on the bench once again recovering from another knee injury.

George has a very good shot at making the roster and will likely be one of the first players off the bench. He’s a better option than Harden or Korver since he actually plays defense and can score in the same way.

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski is still in charge of team USA. He assisted by Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Chicago Bull’s Tom Thibodeau, and New Orleans Pelicans Monty Williams.

George led the Pacers with 21.7 points per game last season. He also had 3.5 assists and 6.8 rebounds. He was considered to be in the MVP race early in the 2013-14 season before his numbers came back to earth as the season progressed.

Go here to see the full schedule for the Cup. The full lists for the Groups can be found here.