Did Team USA miss golden opportunity to develop next cornerstone after Kawhi Leonard dropout?

Team USA rather convincingly beat the Canadian national team on Wednesday night, putting to bed the majority of "concerns" about this preposterously stacked roster. Anything can happen in live competition, but it would be a shock if the U.S. didn't win the gold medal in Paris.

This isn't the ramshackle, inexperienced group Team USA sent to the FIBA World Cup. The entire roster is comprised of All-Stars, top to bottom, with a single notable exception. Derrick White was named as the replacement for Kawhi Leonard after the latter withdrew over ongoing concerns about the health of his knee.

White just won the NBA championship. He's an elite defender and one heck of a complementary piece. If the goal is to build a functional roster around a collection of the world's most dominant individual basketball players, White is a solid pick.

Of course, since we can't avoid weird and pointless discourse in the offseason, there has been a lot of discussion about who wasn't picked to replace Kawhi. The primary source of contention is Jaylen Brown, who is popping out cryptic tweets about why Nike picked his inferior teammate (?) instead of him. It's worth noting that Nike does not control the Team USA rosters.

Frankly, with all due respect to the reigning Finals MVP, Brown is far from the most egregious "snub." Again, White is awesome and it's smart to bring expert role players to your FIBA competition. But seriously. Jimmy Butler? Ja Morant? Trae Young? Paul George? Donovan Mitchell???

Why are we acting like Brown was the obvious next man up?

If we are going to complain about the 12th roster spot on an unbeatable juggernaut, let's at least think outside the box. Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports made a compelling pitch for why Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, star of the U.S. select team in Las Vegas scrimmages, should have taken Kawhi's spot.

"An amateur on Team USA in the Olympics wouldn't have been unprecedented. After his senior season at Duke, Christian Laettner was a member of the 1992 Dream Team, the first team to feature NBA players. Davis was picked to join the 2012 Olympic roster after an impressive one-and-done season at Kentucky. 

If Flagg were picked, there would've been no pressure on him to play significant minutes. There would be a strong chance he barely saw the floor, but if Flagg were added to the roster, it would give basketball fans a glimpse into one of the most highly anticipated incoming college players in years."

Now, that is far more compelling than moaning about how the Finals MVP on a stacked team isn't getting the respect he "deserves."

Team USA should've put Cooper Flagg in the Paris Olympics

Cooper Flagg held his own with the world's greatest basketball players in Team USA scrimmages. Playing alongside burgeoning NBA stars like Jaime Jaquez, Brandin Podziemski, and Jalen Duren on the select team, Flagg was often the best player on his team. It's not often that we watch a 6-foot-8 forward erase driving lanes on defense, initiate the offense, explode for vertical finishes, and process the floor at light speed as a passer. Even less common is watching a 17-year-old do all that against the best professional competition in the world.

We are talking about scrimmages, of course. Flagg is going to face growing pains at Duke, then in the NBA. It's inevitable. But he's clearly ready for this stage. It's hard to overstate the improbability of Flagg's basketball IQ at his age. We just don't see kids who think the game so effectively. Paired with elite physical tools and burgeoning skill, Flagg is the greatest American basketball prospect in a long while.

Therefore, it's reasonable to think that he would benefit from joining Team USA in the Olympics. Flagg is the future of this program, in all likelihood. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry — these dudes won't be on the team four years from now. This is Flagg's last chance to learn from legends of the game. Just imagine how much knowledge a 17-year-old soak up from traveling, practicing, and playing with future Hall of Famers for a month.

Flagg has earned it with his prodigious production at the high school level and his relentless work ethic. It's not a charity case. He's a legitimate player — better than any other "12th man" suiting up for the Olympics. He wouldn't play much, but he wouldn't need to. It's a growth opportunity. A chance for old-heads to shepherd the next generation.

It would be very cool to see Flagg out there with Team USA, but alas, Derrick White is the pick (and understandably so). In the end, we really just need Jaylen Brown to close Twitter for a few days.