Team USA Basketball Blue vs. White Scrimmage Rosters Announced

The NBA officially released its 2015-16 schedule Wednesday, but some of the game’s biggest stars won’t wait until October to hit the court.

Sam Amick of USA Today shared the rosters for the Team USA Blue and White scrimmage game scheduled for Thursday evening, while Marc Stein of ESPN pointed out a few players were specifically invited for the contest:

The team is preparing for the 2016 Olympics with a minicamp in Las Vegas, and fans will see an intriguing showdown given the makeup of the rosters. The white team has something of a star advantage based on name recognition alone with Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins, Kawhi Leonard and NBA champions Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all on the same squad.

This may only be a scrimmage, but look for strong effort on the defensive side of the ball from the white team with Leonard and Green, who were the top two vote-getters in the 2014-15 NBA Defensive Player of the Year race.

If the game plays out like an All-Star contest with low effort at first and then intensity at the end, the white team could win on the back of defense alone.

As for the blue team, it is loaded with young talent. Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton will provide an Orlando Magic flavor to the backcourt and look to push the pace given their overall athleticism, while Bradley Beal, Harrison Barnes, Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan can all light it up from outside.

Kenneth Faried also starred in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup with 12.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game and seems comfortable performing with USA across his chest.

Megastars such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Carmelo Anthony, among others, were not on the rosters, so fans won’t get an exact look at what they could potentially expect when the 2016 Olympics roll around.

Still, a game like this represents an opportunity to pick up important experience for a number of younger players as the Olympics near. They will learn each other’s tendencies and gradually become more comfortable playing together on the floor, which should prove beneficial in the long run.

There is no guarantee the superstars will be completely ready to go by 2016 with an entire NBA season of wear and tear and potential injuries ahead (James is noncommittal about the Olympics at this point), so everyone on the roster needs experience.

Plus, basketball fans probably aren’t going to complain about a contest featuring so many marquee NBA players in the middle of August.