Dwight Howard Reportedly Will Attend Team USA's Minicamp
Dwight Howard will be among the stars heading to Las Vegas for the United States men's basketball team minicamp starting on Aug. 11, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
This comes a little over a day after Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears reported Howard, along with John Wall, could potentially skip the minicamp. The Houston Rockets big man either had a change of heart or simply took his time before finally making a decision.
The news may seem rather irrelevant since the Summer Olympics aren't for another year, but Stein wrote earlier in the month how important it is in the eyes of USA Basketball for players to show up to the Vegas minicamp:
"Yet (USAB managing director Jerry) Colangelo stressed that USA Basketball is making attendance at the three-day event mandatory for invited players if they are interested in securing a spot on the Yanks' 12-man roster for next summer's Olympics in Brazil, even if the player is rehabilitating from an injury or otherwise not yet cleared to join in on-court activities.
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Despite missing half the 2014-15 season because of injury, Howard still averaged 15.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks a game. According to Basketball-Reference.com, his per-36 numbers (19 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 1.6 BPG) were more in line with his career averages.
Having Howard on the team would be huge. He's one of the best true centers in the American player pool. His absence on the eventual gold medal-winning group in 2012 illustrated how thin Team USA is at the position.
Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are great players and should be going to Rio de Janeiro, but Davis isn't really a center, while Cousins can struggle at the defensive end.
Even if Howard simply goes through the motions at the Team USA minicamp in a few weeks, being able to include him on the roster is a big win going into the 2016 Olympics.
