The Rio Olympics are still four months away, but one big non-Team USA name is already out of the mix. ESPN’s Chris Broussard tweeted on Friday afternoon that Ben Simmons will not play for the Australian national team this summer, instead opting to focus on NBA activities, according to his agent, Rich Paul.
“I think it’s obviously a blow,” Australian William McDowell-White, a 6-foot-5 guard considering Texas A&M, Arizona State, and Fresno State, told SNY.tv at the Hoop Summit. “He’s one of the best in the world. Definitely a top 3 pick in the draft and now not going to the Olympics. In the long run he will be there so hopefully it will work out for the best.”
Australia, a perennial Olympic qualifier, secured its spot in Rio when it won the FIBA Oceania Championship last August. Australia is generally stocked with NBA talent as Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova figure to be in the mix.
A young player like Simmons — a projected top-2 pick in the NBA Draft — opting to focus on his NBA responsibilities this summer could be a recurring theme. Back in January, Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis said he would like to play for Latvia at the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July, but it seems unlikely the team would be on board. National team responsibilities would conflict with the Knicks’ entrant at the Vegas Summer League.
Latvia has qualified for the Olympics just once, in 1936 in Berlin. It has never finished higher than eighth at EuroBasket (formerly the European Championship) and is coming off an eighth-place showing at the event in 2015. Porzingis didn’t play with Latvia, and has never appeared with the senior national team in international competition. The Canadian national team faces a similar dilemma with its growing stable of NBA talent. The Canadians failed to qualify for Rio last September at the FIBA Americas Championship, and now must go through the OQT. Andrew Wiggins played for Canada last summer at FIBA Americas, but that event did not conflict with NBA priorities.
Aside from Wiggins, projected top-10 pick Jamal Murray may be unavailable, as might Nik Stauskas. Other notable NBA players figuring to be in the Canadian mix include Kelly Olynyk, Andrew Nicholson and Robert Sacre.
One plus for Canada is it could have Tristan Thompson available. The Cleveland Cavaliers big man did not play last summer at FIBA Americas as his contract status was in flux.
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