Who Should be on the 2016 USA Olympic Basketball Roster?
The 2012 USA men’s basketball team managed to win the gold medal. This was in spite of Coach K doing his best to make sure the games were close. Dave Berri had a good question that he addressed over a Freakonomics today:
It Really Is All About the Players
While Melo and Kobe were questionable choices, this team was very good. However, many of the players will be over 30 by the time the next Olympics comes around. This means much of the roster (and this happens to include Melo and Kobe) will be well past their prime. Making sure to keep ahead of the curve, Dave made sure to do some advanced scouting.
| Player | Age: August 2016 | Position | 2012 WP48 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dwight Howard | 30 | Center | 0.233 |
| Andrew Bynum | 28 | Center | 0.197 |
| Kevin Love | 27 | Power Forward | 0.196 |
| Blake Griffin | 27 | Power Forward | 0.157 |
| LeBron James | 31 | Power Forward | 0.331 |
| Kawhi Leonard | 25 | Small Forward | 0.257 |
| Kevin Durant | 27 | Small Forward | 0.200 |
| James Harden | 26 | Shooting Guard | 0.267 |
| Paul George | 26 | Shooting Guard | 0.202 |
| Chris Paul | 31 | Point Guard | 0.324 |
| Ty Lawson | 28 | Point Guard | 0.193 |
| Mike Conley | 28 | Point Guard | 0.182 |
| Total | Average WP48 | 0.228 |
Giving Chris Paul and LeBron James a little leeway (they’d be the only over 30 players on the team), such a team could be almost as good as the 1992 Dream Team. We’ll have to see if the U.S. Olympic committee asks Dave’s advice for the next team. Make sure to check out the full article over at Freakonomics for even more great insights!