Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris have been selected to the USA Men’s Basketball Select team.
E & G will rep the USA!
Our guards were named to the 2016 Select Team: https://t.co/WeeHQAm95j #Nuggets #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/wB1Dcqky3A
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 7, 2016
The USA Men’s Select Team is arranged with 25 different players who are essentially a practice squad for the actual USA Olympic Basketball Team. A lot of the time it is rookies and sophomores, and sometimes draft prospects, who get the call to compete against the best players in the NBA and help prepare them for international play. The full list was released today and the following players will be joining Harris and Mudiay:
Malcolm Brogdon (University of Virginia); Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns); Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Detroit Pistons); Willie Cauley-Stein (Sacramento Kings); Kris Dunn (Providence College); Aaron Gordon (Orlando Magic); Jerami Grant (Philadelphia 76ers); Gary Harris (Denver Nuggets); Rodney Hood (Utah Jazz); Brandon Ingram (Duke University); Brice Johnson (University of North Carolina), Stanley Johnson (Detroit Pistons); Zach LaVine (Minnesota Timberwolves); CJ McCollum (Portland Trail Blazers); Doug McDermott (Chicago Bulls); Emmanuel Mudiay (Denver Nuggets); Jahlil Okafor (Philadelphia 76ers); Jabari Parker (Milwaukee Bucks); Julius Randle (Los Angeles Lakers); D’Angelo Russell (Los Angeles Lakers); Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics); Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers); Denzel Valentine (Michigan State University); Justise Winslow (Miami Heat) and Cody Zeller (Charlotte Hornets).
Harris and Mudiay both took huge strides this year. Getting the opportunity to train with the best of the best will be nothing but positive for the Nuggets’ young backcourt.
An interesting storyline to watch is if playing for the USA Select team is going to prevent Mudiay from participating in the NBA Summer league, being that the select team starts training in Las Vegas July 18th-20th.
Kenneth Faried is also on the 31-player list for the USA Men’s Olympic Basketball team.
Faried was a monster in the last Olympic games and his motor translated extremely well to the international set of rules. With so many players removing themselves from the running recently due to injuries look for Faried to make the final squad.
Here is the full 31-player list of finalists for the USA Men’s Olympic Basketball team:
LaMarcus Aldridge; Carmelo Anthony; Harrison Barnes; Bradley Beal; Jimmy Butler; Mike Conley; DeMarcus Cousins; Stephen Curry; Anthony Davis; DeMar DeRozan; Andre Drummond; Kevin Durant; Kenneth Faried; Rudy Gay; Paul George; Draymond Green; Blake Griffin; James Harden; Gordon Hayward; Dwight Howard; Andre Iguodala; Kyrie Irving; LeBron James; DeAndre Jordan; Kawhi Leonard; Damian Lillard; Kevin Love; Chris Paul; Klay Thompson; John Wall; and Russell Westbrook.