Paul George could very well be part of the final lineup of Team USA despite the fact that the Indiana Pacers star was not able to actively participate at the USA basketball minicamp held in Las Vegas recently.
As everyone knows, George missed most of the previous NBA season after suffering a horrific leg injury in August of last year during a scrimmage for Team USA.
At that time, George was part of the five on the floor during an intrasquad scrimmage. George tried to defend against a streaking James Harden and fell awkwardly at the basketball stanchion, which resulted in a tibia/fibular fracture.
The injury sidelined George for majority of the regular season, although he did make a miraculous appearance toward the end. His return was more of a move to get him back into the groove and not to provide the Pacers a big push. The Pacers were unable to snag a playoff spot in the 2014-15 wars.
As far as his Team USA stint is concerned, director Jerry Colangelo did announce that interested NBA players who wanted to be part of the team simply needed to be on hand to show their interest. George was around, together with some other players who are currently recovering from their respective injuries. That included Kevin Durant and Kevin Love.
LeBron James was also around, although he did not stay long due to a prior family occasion that had been set even before the minicamp was announced.
With his presence, George officially signified his intention to be part of the team, and it looks like Team USA is seriously lining him up.
"We thought it's the right thing to do," Colangelo said via NBA.com. "That's it.... We didn't give thought to all the details. Just that when a guy goes down and all these things, the circumstances, his career passes before him, he's out for a year, a year plus, he's not able to participate with us at the moment - we wanted to throw that out and say, 'We're counting on you. You've got a spot in '16.' "
With 34 players present at the minicamp, it will be interesting to see who else would be included in the team. Remember that the two Kevins (Durant and Love) are there, as well as Lebron James who may be difficult to pass up.
Of the ones who took part in the minicamp, James Harden could be a shoe-in, as well as Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
It may all eventually depend on the key positions lacking once decision time comes, and among the critical ones seen for now could be the center slot and some more outside snipers.