The FIBA World Cup is right around the corner and the Denver Nuggets are already likely to see a handful of players suiting up to represent their country. A few weeks ago it was reported that Nikola Jokic will participate for Team Serbia. Juancho Hernangomez will be playing for Team Spain. Jamal Murray will likely be lacing them up for Team Canada. And now, you might be able to add Paul Millsap to that mix as a representative for Team USA.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Millsap may be invited to the team training camp in the first week of August with a chance to earn one of the final 12 spots on the roster.
Millsap will be a long-shot to make the roster. Anthony Davis and Kevin Love are both expected to participate and both have experience competing with Team USA in previous events. The team is also likely to bring at least one traditional center. DeMarcus Cousins, Myles Turner, DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, and Brook Lopez are all listed on the official roster, although not all have stated their intent to play this summer.
There is precedent for high-level role players like Millsap making the final 12-man roster. In 2014, Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee made the final roster for the world cup, helping team USA bring home a gold medal. With a roster chalk full of stars, Team USA seems to place a lot of value on having one or two “dirty work” guys who can excel in limited roles.
Training camp will be held in Las Vegas from August 5th through 8th with an inner-squad scrimmage on the 9th at Thomas and Mack Center. Then the team will move to Los Angeles for a few more days of training before heading to Australia for a few exhibition games before ultimately arriving in China for the tournament on August 31st.
