USA Basketball’s Select Team is rounding into form, with Pelicans wing Herbert Jones and Pistons big man Jalen Duren the latest young players invited to join the roster, according to separate reports from Marc Stein (Twitter link) and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The Select Team, which also features Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, Keegan Murray, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Naz Reid, Trey Murphy, Quentin Grimes and Payton Pritchard, is now up to 11 players. One more player may be added to the 12-man roster.
The primary purpose of the Select Team is to practice and scrimmage against the main Team USA roster as it prepares for the FIBA World Cup, which starts at the end of August. Training camp starts next week in Las Vegas.
However, it’s also an opportunity for the Select players to showcase their talent while being considered for future international competitions. It’s possible a player or two on the Select Team could be used as an injury replacement for someone on Team USA as well. For example, Keldon Johnson, who was a Select Team member ahead of the Tokyo Olympics a couple of years ago, replaced Bradley Beal when the star guard contracted COVID-19.
Jones, 24, just completed his second season with New Orleans. The defensive standout recently signed a four-year, $54M contract as a restricted free agent to stay with the Pelicans.
Duren, 19, was a lottery pick last year. He had an impressive rookie season in 2022/23, averaging 9.1 PPG, 8.9 RPG and 0.9 BPG in 67 games for Detroit (24.9 MPG) en route to a berth on the All-Rookie Second Team.
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