Is the door opening for Andre Drummond to make Team USA?

Players are taking their names out of consider for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio in droves, leaving the door open for Detroit Pistons big man Andre Drummond to make the final roster.

Andre Drummond’s chances of making the U.S. Men’s National Basketball team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio are getting better by the week. Although Steph Curry made the headlines for dropping out of consideration this week, it was LaMarcus Aldridge’s dropout that caught my eye.

Aldridge joins the likes of Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin as big men who will no longer be considered for a spot on the Olympic team. This means that Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus Cousins and Drummond are the only true big men still in contention.

Cousins will have the upper hand on him if we are going off of their playing time during the 2014 FIBA World Cup (Cousins played 13.9 minutes per game compared to Drummond’s 5.8). Howard is 30 and deals with chronic back issues, so I doubt he’s looking to log the extra minutes and travel required. And Jordan will present stiff competition, but USA brass did choose Drummond over him when doling out invites in 2014.

Originally, USA Basketball named 31 finalists back in February. While the players who have opted not to participate thus far (Curry, Aldridge, Griffin, Davis, John Wall and Chris Paul) have done so due to injury, there are also concerns over an outbreak of the Zika virus and malaria in Brazil.

Multiple players have brushed off such concerns when asked about them, but they are still there. Whatever the reason may be, it appears that international basketball aficionado Fran Fraschilla appears to believe more drop outs will be coming:

As an aside, Cousins reaffirmed his commitment to the team to ESPN this week:

The final roster is set to be announced on June 27th. Chairman Jerry Colangelo recently told the Associated Press that the decision makers are realistically down to 14 or 15 guys. But he did note that the shape of the roster could be tweaked based on LeBron James’ decision (not that Decision) of whether or not to play.

Without LeBron’s versatility, the team could look to get bigger. Realistically, they will probably stick with a roster stylized to play a four-out, one-in system. They may even elect to only bring one true center to Rio.

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While Drummond’s chances of making the team may be small, they certainly look better than they did a few weeks ago. If I had to venture a guess, I would say the spot for Cousins’ backup (if one is selected) comes down to Drummond and Jordan, and that’s a battle he’s won before.

Even if he is subjected to 11th- or 12th-man duties like he was during the 2014 FIBA World Cup, there is still value in making the Olympic team. There’s experience to gain from competing with the best day in and day out, habits to pick up, and a winning mentality to bring home to Detroit.

And he’ll even get a chance to shine on the international stage (you and I both know there will be plenty of blow outs). Team USA will be full of shooters and full of guys trying to score, but somebody has to collect the misses. Who better than the NBA’s leading rebounder from a season ago?

Drummond would become the first Piston to make the Olympic team since Tayshaun Prince in 2008.