NBA Rumors: D'Angelo Russell, Mike Conley Among Team USA Replacement Options

As Team USA seeks to fill out its roster ahead of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Mike Conley and D'Angelo Russell headline the list of stars who could serve as replacements following a number of marquee departures. 

The Athletic's Joe Vardon reported Conley, Russell, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Josh Richardson, Thaddeus Young and Julius Randle are all being considered for the team. 

LeBron James ruled himself out for the World Cup months ago. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported Anthony Davis was focusing on acclimating himself with the Los Angeles Lakers and thus wouldn't play in the World Cup. According to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen, James Harden declined the opportunity as well.

On Monday alone, Haynes reported Bradley Beal withdrew from Team USA's training camp, and the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey reported the same was true of Tobias Harris.

Vardon cited the timing of the World Cup as one possible reason for such a high volume of absences. The 2020 Summer Olympics open next July in Tokyo, so some players could be looking at back-to-back summers with international play.

The silver lining is that the door is now wide open for some NBA veterans to get their first chance at a gold medal for Team USA.

Conley in particular deserves to have something tangible he can point to as evidence of his on-court productivity. Because he has spent his entire NBA career in the Western Conference, the 31-year-old remains without an All-Star appearance despite averaging 14.9 points, 5.7 assists and 1.5 steals over 12 seasons. 

Head coach Gregg Popovich may prefer instead to call up younger players such as Brown, Russell and Richardson who are likely to have a longer future with the national team.