The current Team USA consists of 16 players but coach Mike Krzyewski has to cut four more to finalize the roster.
According to Rolling Stone, the FIBA tournament in Spain will officially begin on August 30, 2014. The team will be heading to New York for the last week of training camp and friendly matches.
In the Chicago game, DeMar DeRozan and Gordon Hayward did not get to play, which gave experts the impression that they will most likely get cut at the end of the week, Rolling Stone added. However, DeMarcus Cousins is also dealing with a sore knee, which could affect the status of either big man. If Cousins proceed to play, Andre Drummond will most likely be sent home.
In a report by Pro Basketball Talk, coach Krzyewski used an eight-man rotation during the game between USA and Brazil on August 16, 2014. The starting five were Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis. The other three players who saw a lot of minutes on the court included Rudy Gay, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving.
Pro Basketball Talk observed that Mason Plumlee got to play 15 minutes. Chandler Parsons played for five minutes, Kyle Korver played for three minutes and Damian Lillard played for two minutes. DeMarcus Cousins is certain to be part of Team USA if his injury turns out to be minor. If he does not, the team would be faced with the challenge of lacking big men. Mason Plumlee and Anthony Davis would have to take on the role of center. No one in the team would even reach 7 feet tall.
The third player that was healthy but did not get to play aside from DeRozan and Hayward was Drummond. These three guys may be out of the team by the weekend, Pro Basketball Talk speculated. Team USA are set to play a friendly match against the Dominican Republic on August 20, 2014.
In an article by ESPN.com, Jerry Colangelo, basketball chairman of Team USA, said that there is even the possibility of keeping all 16 players through the game in Puerto Rico. He said, "We've said we wanted to wait through the end of the week in New York before we made cutbacks, but that could still change."
The final roster will fly to Europe on August 23, 2014 to play in Spain over a period of 23 days. The FIBA World Cup will commence on August 30 and end on September 14.