Olympic Basketball Watchers Guide: Lottery Edition

Men’s Olympic basketball begins on Saturday.

Whether past, present, or future, nearly half of the player field has some connection to the NBA, which is pretty crazy considering how many are sidelined by injuries or skipping out for other reasons. There are countless stars, storylines, and international prospects to follow, but here’s some stuff to watch that primarily relates to the NBA’s non-playoff teams from last year.

Argentina

Manu Ginobili makes the final appearance for his country in Olympic play. They’ll have a tough time winning games due to an elderly roster that hasn’t been properly re-fueled with premier talent. However, watching Manu fire passes around is worth the price of admission even if you aren’t appreciative of Luis Scola’s heart-stopping hair.

Australia

Adding youngsters Ben Simmons and Dante Exum would’ve made this a must-watch bunch. However, the Aussies have NBA champions Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova, both of whom are set to take on new challenges with the Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively. Each figures to be relied upon more heavily in their new locations, as the Mavs look to remain in the playoff hunt and the Bucks look to get back there after enjoying a small sip of postseason success the year before last. The Olympics will afford this duo the same burden of responsibility and offer some clues about how they’ll adjust to their new homes. Bogut returns to action after being forced to exit the series versus the Cavaliers, so his health and movement will be something to monitor as well.

Brazil

Chicago’s Cristiano Felicio was red hot in Summer League, making 33-of-44 field-goal attempts through six contests. In 23 minutes per game, he averaged 11.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and he is the lone true big man on the Bulls not named Robin Lopez. Standing 6-10 and weighing in at 275 lbs., Felicio is a sly scorer inside the paint with fine footwork, and he’s also a sharpshooter. He tallied nearly two dimes per bout in Summer League too, which should stand to impress coach Fred Hoiberg. Felicio’s shooting touch could prove vital on a team lacking that as badly as any, and he has a chance to showcase his skills in a serious role over the next couple weeks.

Croatia

All eyes will be on youngsters Mario Hezonja and Dario Saric, but Bojan Bogdanovic is the veteran at 27 years of age. If this team is going to be competitive, Bogdanovic has to play at a high level. Furthermore, Bogdanovic is set to enter the final year of his deal with Brooklyn, and what he does in 2016-17 may determine whether he remains in the NBA as a role player or accepts an overseas offer.

France

Sporting a core of Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Rudy Gobert, Nic Batum, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Nando de Colo, the French team is going to be fun. Jazz fans get a preview of one of their many potential frontcourt pairings in Diaw-Gobert. The Spurs’ legendary lead guard makes his final appearance in the Olympics. Lauvergne is part of a ridiculously crowded Nuggets frontcourt, and he’ll enjoy a much larger role here than for Denver in 2016-17. Meanwhile, Nando turned down NBA offers this summer to stay overseas, so that automatically makes him a player to watch—especially against the U.S.

Lithuania

All eyes will be on Toronoto’s Jonas Valanciunas and Oklahoma City’s Domantas Sabonis, but the Knicks’ Mindaugas Kuzminskas is worth keeping an eye on too. A 6-10 forward who greatly improved his outside shooting, Kuzminskas will need to show something on the defensive end in order to be embraced in New York.

Nigeria

Rookie Michael Gbinije is the only current NBA player on the roster, as the team is without Al-Faruq Aminu and Festus Ezeli. Gbinije joins a deep wing core in Detroit and has an uphill climb to playing time. Therefore, he’s likely to spend most of the season in the D-League.

Serbia

Again, all eyes will be on Nikola Jokic, and with good reason. However, Bogdan Bogdanovic was taken by Phoenix in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft, and he has yet to come over to the NBA. The Suns don’t appear to need anymore young talent in their backcourt, but Serbia sure does. He’ll have to play well if they hope to compete with the better teams.

Spain

Philly’s Sergio Rodriguez is slated to see some decent minutes, and we’ll see how the 6-3, 30-year-old guard with five years of NBA experience (from 2006-10) looks in comparison to a solid starter in Ricky Rubio and an aging Jose Calderon. Alex Abrines and Willy Hernangomez have plenty to prove heading into their rookie seasons. Nikola Mirotic is also a player to keep tabs on, as his three-point shooting needs to be consistently great next season.

USA

For the United States, Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony, and DeMarcus Cousins are the lone three players whose teams did not make the NBA playoffs last year. How’s Butler’s three-ball looking? Does Anthony still appear to be in his prime, and how’s that defense look? Will Cousins keep his cool in the heat of the moment if opponents hack the crap out of him or something doesn’t go his way? Chicago, New York, and Sacramento are all longshots to make the postseason once again in 2016-17, that is unless one of these three can carry an immeasurable load and improve in the few areas where they don’t currently excel.