Editor's note: On Thursday, reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid committed to play for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics, sources told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
When the United States men's basketball team arrives at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, it will almost certainly do so with a stronger roster than the one that finished fourth at the 2023 FIBA Olympic World Cup and featured only four NBA All-Stars.
Sources told ESPN's Brian Windhorst earlier this week that MVPs Stephen Curry and LeBron James, along with James' Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, are among the superstars with interest in playing in 2024.
Let's imagine a world where every player eligible to represent the USA in Paris is healthy and willing to play next year. Who would make the 12-player roster? In making my choices, I followed a few important ground rules to keep things realistic:
• We're picking the best team, not necessarily the best players
• Proven USA Basketball success is a key factor
• Young players who can be part of the future should be included
With those criteria in mind, let's take a look at a possible Redeem Team 2.0.
Starting five
Point guard: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
We've never really seen peak Curry on the international stage. He played for the U.S. in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the latter the summer before emerging as an MVP and NBA champion. At 6-foot-2, Curry is on the small side for a switch-heavy defense and not exactly the pass-first distributor the best USA teams have featured at point guard. Yet, the threat of his shooting from the shorter FIBA 3-point line makes Curry a no-brainer choice.
Shooting guard: Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Fresh off a loss in the NBA Finals in 2021, Booker averaged 20.7 minutes per game during the Tokyo Olympics, ranking fourth on the squad. He figures to play an important role as the perimeter stopper on this U.S. roster -- an area in which Booker excelled during the 2023 playoffs -- while keeping the floor well spaced with his volume 3-point shooting.
Small forward: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
Next summer will mark 12 years since James last donned the red, white and blue at the 2012 Olympics in London. Having won two gold medals (2008, 2012) and a bronze (2004), James' commitment to the national team can't be questioned. He projects as the primary ball handler on this team after averaging 5.6 APG en route to gold in 2012.
Power forward: Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns
Winning a record fourth gold medal -- the most of any men's basketball player -- to go along with MVP of the 2010 FIBA World Championship (since renamed the World Cup) would cement Durant as the greatest player in USA Basketball history. Already, I think he's more deserving of that title than fellow three-time gold medalist Carmelo Anthony.
Since 2008, four of the top five performances in terms of my wins above replacement player (WARP) metric by any American player in a major international competition belong to Durant, with James in the 2008 Olympics the only player to surpass his weakest tournament (the 2016 Olympics).
Center: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Embiid's choice of which team to represent in the Paris Olympics -- if he plays at all -- might be next summer's most interesting free agency decision. Embiid became a citizen of both the United States and host France last year, leaving the door open for him to join either team as a naturalized player instead of representing his native Cameroon, which will attempt to reach the 2024 Olympics by winning one of four qualifying tournaments next summer.
Although Embiid's presence would require the USA to change styles, having not regularly featured a post-up center since DeMarcus Cousins in the 2014 World Cup, adding the reigning MVP would be well worth it. Keeping him away from a France team that looks like a medal threat despite a disappointing group-stage exit from the World Cup could also be key.
Bench
Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
This year's World Cup team was at its best with Haliburton at the controls rather than starting point guard Jalen Brunson. Given that the U.S. has tended to excel with pass-first point guards -- taken to an extreme when Jason Kidd averaged 1.6 PPG en route to gold in 2008 -- that shouldn't be surprising. At 6-5, Haliburton has enough size to defend multiple positions and enough shooting ability to be a threat without the ball in his hands.
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Edwards was certainly right to believe that Steve Kerr's initial idea of bringing him off the bench for the World Cup, a la Dwyane Wade in the 2008 Olympics, didn't make sense because there was no Kobe Bryant on this year's team. Though the imaginary 2024 team doesn't have Bryant either, it does have Durant and James, pushing Edwards to the role of providing instant offense off the bench.
Don't blame Bridges for this year's World Cup disappointment. He shot 70% on 2s and 55% on 3s -- including his improbable make at the end of regulation against Canada to force overtime -- while defending opposing lead ball handlers. Bridges might not be as accomplished as some of the more experienced stars available to the USA in this exercise, but he's in his prime at age 27 and a more reliable 3-and-D choice.
The only American-born player on the All-NBA first team last season, Tatum has a reasonable case to start for the best possible USA team but is blocked here by the more experienced Durant and James. He was already the second-leading scorer for the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics off the bench and would give the second unit a massive advantage over opponents lacking depth.
Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
In reality, Davis might not be willing to sign up for his first USA Basketball experience since the 2014 World Cup to back up Embiid. Let's imagine we've whispered assurances he'll get a chance to finish many games at center, giving the U.S. a more mobile frontcourt. Davis is an ideal FIBA center capable of dealing with physical players in the paint without needing to defend pick-and-rolls in drop coverage.
USA Basketball has preferred to overload its previous rosters with big men in case of foul trouble with the limit of five in 40-minute FIBA games. Adebayo is overqualified as a fourth big after starting in Tokyo, when the U.S. was more successful playing a switch-heavy defense than this year's World Cup.
Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers
My last spot goes to Mobley with an eye toward the possibility he's the USA's center of the future after Jaren Jackson Jr. struggled in that role during the World Cup. Mobley has some of the same weaknesses as Jackson in terms of strength and defensive rebounding, but he's more versatile as a defender.
Toughest cuts
In the real world where not all 12 players I've picked are likely to be healthy or willing to play in the Olympics, I like my colleague Jonathan Givony's suggestion of bringing back Butler, who last played for the USA in the 2016 Olympics. In addition to toughness and determination, Butler would bring defensive playmaking that's somewhat lacking on my roster, where I prioritized floor spacing on offense.
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
Green got beaten out by the younger Adebayo, with whom he rotated at center in the Tokyo Olympics, for a spot on my roster.
A starter in Tokyo, Holiday would have made my roster had I kept five guards for his lockdown defense. I went with Haliburton as a backup point guard in part because he's more likely to be part of the national team's future than Holiday, who will be 34 by the Olympics.
It's hard to believe Kawhi has never represented the USA internationally. He declined an invite for the 2016 Olympics and did not have a chance to play in Tokyo because of the partial ACL tear he suffered in that year's NBA playoffs. A healthy Leonard would fit well in FIBA play, but it's impossible to count on that after a meniscus tear ended his 2023 campaign.
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Perhaps the single toughest cut, Mitchell was a bright spot in the USA's disappointing 2019 World Cup run and was more effective for the national team than Booker. He's also one of two All-NBA second team picks not on this roster, with Jaylen Brown the other. I ultimately preferred more size at shooting guard with Booker and Edwards, but Mitchell is perfectly deserving in his own right.