2012 Summer Olympics: Stars Team USA Must Choose to Fill out Basketball Roster

Team USA’s blueprint is a mess.

Analysts hyped up the 2012 United States men’s basketball team to feature names prolific enough to challenge the Dream Team. Injuries to Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and LaMarcus Aldridge, though, have prevented that from happening.

According to ESPN, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said earlier in the week: "What we think is that barring any other further major injury, we have a pretty good handle on what we think the roster might look like, and it may get down to a final selection or two."

Those guaranteed to rock red, white and blue in London this summer: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love.

Finalists that'll potentially sneak onto the roster: Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Andre Iguodala and soon-to-be rookie Anthony Davis.

Looking at those 10 locks, it’s safe to say Team USA has more than enough offensive firepower. The defense, on the other hand, isn't so stacked. And while it isn’t necessary to have a four-man rotation of near-seven-footers in international ball, they’re still lacking size.

Knowing that, the two final members of Team USA should be Iguodala and Davis.

Iguodala is the best wing defender in the NBA not named LeBron. Team USA has a history of selecting defensive stoppers to round out the roster (see: Tayshaun Prince, Shane Battier).  However, Iggy is not only an elite defender—he’s a phenomenal passer and will have no problem setting up the tremendous scorers around him.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Davis should hear his name called as the squad’s final big man over Blake Griffin. While they’re both athletic freaks, Davis is a defensive fiend while Griffin is a poor defender and would rather stay on the offensive end. Team USA doesn’t need the extremely-raw Griffin taking boneheaded shots when they have an endless amount of superior scorers.

If Team USA adds Iguodala and Davis, it'll be well on its way to a gold medal.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels