Kyrie Irving Accepts U.S. Invitation for Rio Olympics

[RedBlackAttack]

Kyrie Irving accepts U.S. invitation, fill out roster for Rio
4:56 PM ET

Marc SteinESPN Senior Writer

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving has accepted an invitation to play for Team USA in this summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, league sources told ESPN on Saturday.

Sources told ESPN that Irving, after deliberating all week following the Cavaliers' championship run, has informed USA Basketball that he will be on the plane for Rio, completing the team's roster.

Irving, the MVP of the 2014 Basketball World Cup, averaged 19.6 points and 4.7 assists for the Cavaliers this season.

According to ESPN and multiple reports, the 12-man squad to be unveiled Monday afternoon in New York City features Irving, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan at guard; Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes at forward‎; and DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan at center.

The Americans will be heavy favorites in Rio in a 12-team field to win their third successive gold medal under coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is ceding his post to Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs following these Games after a decade in charge.

The Vertical first reported Saturday that Barnes had accepted an invite to play for Team USA, joining Warriors teammates Thompson and Green.

Krzyzewski and his staff will hold a four-day training camp in Las Vegas from July 18 to July 21, and then the team will play five exhibition games, starting July 22 against Argentina and ending Aug. 1 against Nigeria. The Olympic basketball tournament will take place from Aug. 6 to Aug. 21 in Rio de Janeiro.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/...s-rio-games-us

[Terahite]

damn how many scrubs from the warriors are they gonna put on this team?

[rzp]

That sucks. He should rest his legs and avoid injuries...

[RedBlackAttack]

Roster is starting to shape up...

PG: Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry
SG: Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Demar Derozen
SF: Kevin Durant, Paul George, Harrison Barnes
PF: Carmelo Anthony, Draymond Green
C: DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan

I can't imagine Durant or Melo not starting, so one will have to move down to PF. Lots of flexibility with this frontcourt, though, and a pretty damn solid 8-9 man rotation.

[Ben Simmons]

Roster is starting to shape up...

PG: Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry
SG: Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Demar Derozen
SF: Kevin Durant, Paul George, Harrison Barnes
PF: Carmelo Anthony, Draymond Green
C: DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan

I can't imagine Durant or Melo not starting, so one will have to move down to PF. Lots of flexibility with this frontcourt, though, and a pretty damn solid 8-9 man rotation.

Carmelo over Draymond?

[D-Wait]

That sucks. He should rest his legs and avoid injuries...

We have Kay Felder now. Kyrie can rest in the regular season

[Real14]

Carmelo over Draymond?

Stop trolling.

[RedBlackAttack]

Carmelo over Draymond?

For the purposes of ego, yes... I think that will be the starting five. Melo isn't going to come off the bench, imo. Also remember that Melo is really freaking good in international play.

But, there are a lot of lineup variations that Coach K can toy with, like...

Kyrie, Klay, PG13, KD, Draymond

^^^That's a killer with a great mix of shooting, playmaking, shot-making and defense. I like the the idea of using George, Durant and Draymond all at the same time in your frontcourt, in particular. Toss Jimmy Butler and Melo in that mix too.

[Ben Simmons]

Stop trolling.

Im not. Draymond is a better fit. No need to have Melo in the starting lineup

Not that Draymond is a better player

[Achilleas]

barnes

[FKAri]

That sucks. He should rest his legs and avoid injuries...

That's what the regular season is for

[Real14]

Im not. Draymond is a better fit. No need to have Melo in the starting lineup

Not that Draymond is a better player

This is Olympics man. Melo was one of the main reasons why they win the gold last time. Stop hating on the bro.

[D-Wait]

barnes

It's funny after that Finals performance, but let's be real, most of the teams in the Olympics will let Barnes look like a star...

[KingPush]

This is Olympics man. Melo was one of the main reasons why they win the gold last time. Stop hating on the bro.

Yea, that was 4 years ago when Melo was a top 10 player

[Rocketswin2013]

That sucks. He should rest his legs and avoid injuries...

eh he's pretty young.