Fun Team USA Lineups We Want to See During 2024 Olympics
The 2024 Team USA roster that's headed to Paris for the Olympics is loaded with megastar talent. What kind of hoops nerds would we be if we didn't take this opportunity to suggest (read: demand) lineups for head coach Steve Kerr to roll out?
Here's the thing: These five-player combos we're about to recommend (read: mandate) will not follow the traditional script. We want to ask for (read: insist on) unlikely arrangements that either evince nostalgia or tampering accusations, or configurations that make the world at large go: "Great googly moogly! Is Steve Kerr a mad scientist, off his rocker or both?!"
Sure, Team USA has games to win, beginning with an exhibition against Canada on Wednesday. And yes, the squad has a gold medal to pursue, the official start of which will come on July 28 vs. Serbia. Kerr and his coaching staff have more pressing, and foundational, issues to tackle in advance of the Summer Olympics. They will (and are) more concerned about fit and chemistry and general coherence.
We are not.
Because what good is bundling together a bunch of red-carpet names, most or all of them future Hall of Famers, if we don't get a little to a lot to an unhinged amount of weird?
*Note: Team USA won't submit its final roster to the Olympic governors until later this month. For the purposes of this exercise, though, we are assuming Kevin Durant (calf), Joel Embiid (knee), Kawhi Leonard (knee) and Jayson Tatum (excused absence) will all be making the trip to Paris.
The All-Guard Lineup
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Lineup: Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jrue Holiday
This quintet comes close to being an obligatory inclusion. That doesn't make it any less fascinating.
Fielding five players who can dribble, shoot and decision-make without sacrificing size is literally the Boston Celtics the dream. Well, this arrangement forfeits a ton of size. Nobody is taller than 6'5", which leaves Team USA liable to get trucked on defense and overpowered on the glass.
I'm perfectly OK taking that risk. The offense from these gents would be that unstoppable.
Though this combo is populated by no fewer than four primary ball-handlers, most of them are intimately familiar with moving and generating space away from the ball. D-Book, Steph and Jrue shine brightest in that regard, but Hali gained extensive experience in this sector following Indiana's acquisition of Pascal Siakam (and Buddy Hield's departure).
Imagine, if you will, Edwards running pick-and-rolls with Holiday as the screener, while Booker, Curry and Hali pinball around (and screen for one another) away from the primary action. How do you defend that?
And look, while I'm not about to argue that this all-guard configuration will lock anyone down, the grit and physicality with which Holiday and Edwards can defend up should go a long way. Ditto for their capacity, as well as Booker's, to sneak in for contested rebounds.
The 'Blended Eras' Lineup
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Lineup: Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum
"Past, present and future" cliche alert!
Narrowing this down proved to be a little tougher than I initially thought. Let's review the selections by era:
- Past: Durant needs to be included here. He is Team USA's all-time-leading scorer, and at 35 (going on 36 in September), we have to assume his fourth Olympics go-round will also be his final one. Choosing between LeBron and Stephen Curry hurts. But while I refuse to rule out James for the 2028 Olympics given that his longevity defies biology, physics and logic, he's 39 years old. Plus, where Steph has yet to compete in the Olympics, LeBron is quite literally Team USA's past—not just as a former participant, but as someone who hasn't suited up on this stage since 2012.
- Present: You can go any number of directions here. Tatum, Bam Adebayo and Devin Booker were all on the 2020 gold-medal team, and all of them are young enough to keep going beyond 2024. JT gets the go-ahead, if only because he's forever age 19.
- Future: This part's easy. With the exception of 19-year-old Jayson Tatum, Ant and Hali are the only players under the age of 25 on the Olympics roster. Both are among the potential billboards for the United States' international standing in the decade to come.
For those who care more about on-court fit than staged-social-media-event lineups that strike nostalgic, reflective and forward-thinking overtones: This fivesome should kick ass.
Using KD as your primary "big" is hardly a novel concept anymore, and the overall front line isn't exactly small when it also features LeBron and Tatum. Aside from conventional heft, this arrangement boasts a little bit of just about everything—and gobs of offensive dynamism.
The All 'Big' Lineup
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Lineup: Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, LeBron James
There are three things for which I always cape until the day I die: Frank Ntilikina's NBA potential, further exploration of vampire squids and small-ball lineups.
And yet, at this very moment, I find myself lamenting Team USA's dearth of traditional size. Adebayo, Davis and Embiid are the only conventional "bigs" on the roster, which knee-caps our capacity to get truly weird.
Still, we need to see the trio of talls (yes, I know Bam is 6'9") play together. And let's have them run bust-out actions that involve all of them. Like, how about AD and Embiid set double screens for Bam as the primary ball-handler?
KD and LeBron round out this grouping simply because it ensures we have the five tallest players on the roster operating at once. But I'm willing to include a smaller player who doesn't operate on-ball as much as LeBron (Stephen Curry?) if it facilitates seeing the bigs run more inverted offense.
Either way, this lineup sees AD or Bam get in reps as the de facto 3. Unhinged? Not quite. Weird? Definitely.
The 'Good Luck Scoring, Other Countries' Lineup
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Lineup: Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid, Jrue Holiday, Kawhi Leonard
For this space, I set out to build the most harrowing defensive lineup possible for Team USA. Trimming down the initial field to seven proved quite easy and left me with: Davis, Edwards, Embiid, Holiday, Leonard, Bam Adebayo and Jayson Tatum.
Tough choices are a part of life. Leaving off Bam was a burden that will assuredly keep me up at night. His versatility on the less glamorous end remains underrated. There is perhaps no big man more equipped to play—and thrive—inside any form of coverage.
Put him on the floor alongside someone who can function as the primary rim protector? Forget about it.
Embiid and AD are nevertheless more dominant (in my book) at what they do. And since I already spit out a three-big alignment, I left Bam off in favor of (what I believe to be) more lethal interior protection that won't concede enough or anything on the perimeter relative to prospective iterations with Adebayo. (Also: The spacing with Embiid and AD on the other side of the floor beats out the spacing with Bam and AD.)
Holiday is a must-have as we move to the perimeter ranks. And it doesn't hurt that he can match up with some orthodox 4s if Team USA wants AD to ruin lives as a super roamer.
That left Edwards, Leonard and Tatum for the final two slots. Peak Kawhi remains one of the most terrifying stoppers in existence, so I'm taking him. And Edwards, to me, has more malleability than Tatum when it comes to guarding on-ball. (This was another painstaking decision).
What's the over/under on the average opponent offensive rating with these five on the floor? Is 0.90 points per possession too ambitious?
Screw it, I'll take the "under" anyway, because I'm pretty sure that's what it means to be a patriot.
*Editor's Note: Kawhi Leonard has since been replaced by Boston Celtics guard Derrick White.
The 'Anthony Edwards Is Still the No. 1 Option' Lineup
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Lineup: Bam Adebayo, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday
"I'm still the No. 1 option," Anthony Edwards told reporters when asked about his role on Team USA. "Y'all might look at it differently, but I don't. "
"I just go out there and be myself," he added, when pressed further "Shoot my shots, play defense. They've got to fit in to play around me. That's how I feel."
Anyone surprised by Edwards' bravado must be new to basketball. And anybody turned off by his comments needs to pop a chill pill. He was nothing but complementary of everyone else on the roster.
Still, we obviously have to cobble together a lineup in which he's the No. 1 option.
Removing any semblance of competition for on-ball status is the first step. Relative to the rest of the roster, it's easier to identify who will not challenge Ant for primary-option responsibilities. Adebayo, Davis and Holiday are the safest bets.
The final spot doesn't have a sure thing. Everybody left would have a case to take the last shot over Ant.
Steph feels like the best choice. He's above Ant in status, but his familiarity playing with ball-dominant running mates is the crux of his stardom.
So many others on the roster can do it. Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, specifically, are excellent alternatives. But when you really think about it, in addition to being the best shooter ever, Steph is perhaps the best perimeter play-finisher of all time. His experience in that role transcends anything KD, Book, Hali and JT have done in the same arena.
All of which is to say: If we really want to see what the current iteration of Team USA would be like with Ant as the alpha option, and with as few safety nets as possible, this is the lineup to uncork.
The 'All-Tampering, but Who's Recruiting Who?' Lineup
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Lineup: Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard
This isn't so much about actual basketball as conceptual basketball. I want Steve Kerr to deploy a lineup where mid-game recruiting will take place.
Of course, the actual basketball will be fine. Like, this is a real lineup. KD and Kawhi are enough to get you by in the big-man slots. So...bonus!
Assembling the right mix of players here is oddly difficult. Glittery-name pairings seldom take place via free agency anymore. (Yes, yes, yes, the 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers are an exception.) We're instead left to juggle stars from teams on the brink of transition or implosion with the contract lengths and overall status to force a move, be it an acquisition or exit.
That's how I landed with these five.
LeBron is on a one-plus-one contract, giving him leverage as both a flight risk and backbone of the Lakers organization. Steph has two years left on his deal and, presumably, the ear of every person who matters in the Warriors organization. Both Golden State and, to a lesser extent, Los Angeles have the assets to go older-star hunting—and for LeBron and Steph to try recruiting each other.
KD also has two years left on his contract. The Phoenix Suns don't have the assets for him to recruit anyone on their behalf. But if my math's correct, we are, like, 67 days overdue for a Durant trade request.
Kawhi and D-Book provide the finishing touches as players under longer-term deals who other stars should definitely be trying to poach. Leonard seems content in Los Angeles, but the Clippers are entering the "Uh, is this going anywhere?" phase of their existence. Could he be convinced to ask for out—especially when, geographically speaking, the other members of this recruiting throng play for franchises that don't dictate he move far?
Booker, meanwhile, is on track to be considered the next top-15 player who could push for a change of scenery. The Suns' outlook is that bleak when you factor in the ages of Durant (36 in September) and Bradley Beal (31), the breadth of holes on the current roster and the harsh transactional restrictions they'll face as indefinite second-apron payers.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac. Draft-pick obligations via RealGM.
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