Keldon Johnson, JaVale McGee join Team USA roster

Team USA has found their replacements for Kevin Love and Bradley, selecting Keldon Johnson and Javale McGee to fill their shoes.

Preparing for the Summer Olympics hasn’t gone so well for Team USA’s men’s basketball team. They lost their first two games to Nigeria and Australia, which shocked the entire basketball world. Then, things got worse as Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal entered the health and safety protocols, forcing him to miss the entire Olympic tournament.

Those aren’t the only losses the USA men’s basketball team has suffered up to this point. On Friday, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love withdrew from the Olympics. He’s been rehabbing a calf injury that caused him to miss most of the 2020-21 NBA season. He was present at Team USA practices, training with them for roughly 10 days before withdrawing.

Those two losses are big for a USA team with some legit concerns heading into the summer games. The team found Beal and Love’s replacements Friday, choosing a savvy veteran and a rising young player from the USA Select roster.

Keldon Johnson and JaVale McGee are replacing Bradley Beal and Kevin Love on Team USA.

Spurs forward Keldon Johnson and NBA free agent JaVale McGee were selected as the replacements for Team USA, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Johnson has been a part of Team USA’s Select group, a collection of young NBA players to help the Olympic team practice. According to Woj, the 21-year-old forward has become a favorite amongst team decision-makers and coaches, along with being with the team and being in shape. McGee will travel to Las Vegas to officially join Team USA on Sunday.

Missing a supreme scorer like Beal and a tenacious rebounder in Love will be a challenge. Johnson is still gaining experience, and McGee will need to get in playing shape (if he’s not already). Since Team USA’s exhibition match against Australia on Friday was canceled due to health and safety protocols, Johnson and McGee will have their first exhibition game on Sunday against Argentina.