DeMarcus Cousins may replace Kevin Love on USA Basketball roster
By Bryan Rose
With Kevin Love’s NBA future uncertain, the All-Star power forward has elected to pull out of Team USA basketball activities. That leaves a large hole in the front court considering Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers did the same thing.
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So who’s left to take over their spots? Well, according to ESPN, both DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings and Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons are potential candidates who may find themselves on the roster.
"Asked if Saturday’s sudden withdrawal of Kevin Love, so soon after Blake Griffin’s pullout, gives DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond real hope of making the 12-man roster of players bound for the inaugural FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, [USA Basketball chairman] Jerry Colangelo told ESPN.com: “Absolutely.”"
Training camp is set to open in the coming days and a handful of current players on the roster have made themselves unavailable. That leaves little choice for Colangelo, though, it’s not as if DeMarcus Cousins or Andre Drummond aren’t worth of spots.
It’s not known if both Cousins and Drummond could make the roster but each brings with them a different skill set. A bit more ‘raw’, Drummond is the more athletic of the two and brings with him a better defensive game. However Cousins is far superior on the offensive side of the ball and can still get after it defensively when challenged.
The best case scenario for Team USA would be to have both on the roster considering they’re vastly different talents with unique skill sets.