Detroit Pistons: Mason Plumlee could make USA Olympic team

How  Detroit Pistons’ Mason Plumlee could earn a spot on the Olympic team

The NBA finals could last as far as July 22, as currently scheduled. Of course, who knows when the season will actually end. With game postponements piling up, plus the possibility of playoffs being delayed due to positive or inconclusive COVID-19 tests.

Even if it does end on July 22, is LeBron James simply going to hop on a plane to Japan the day after winning a title, having had no practices with the team?

Remember, it took just one inconclusive test for the Pistons game at Denver to be called off. What if, say, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each had an inconclusive test the day of a playoff game? Do you think the NBA would really make the Boston Celtics play?

There are 12 spots on the Olympic roster and there is no mechanism for replacing a player. Whatever 12 names USA Basketball submits, those are the only ones who can play in Tokyo. The normal roster deadline has been three weeks in advance.

What if, say, Anthony Davis is on the team and he sprains an ankle in Game 7 of the NBA finals and is out for the Olympics? The USA has to go in shorthanded.

The safest thing to do, would be to select Team USA from the pool of teams that did not make the NBA playoffs. That is what ice hockey does for the World Championships, which conflicts with the NHL playoffs.

The NBA regular season is done on May 22. Players not in playoffs will be rested and fully recovered from any lingering injuries by July. They can also quarantine and live in a bubble.

They can prepare to face international play and be fully invested in training camp and exhibition games.

Under that scenario, Plumlee is a shoe-in to make the team. He has international experience and plays a position of need. In case it mattered, in two games against the Jazz, Plumlee outplayed French center Rudy Gobert, who the United States will face in its opener.

Actually, a team of non-playoff players like Karl-Anthony Towns, Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal, Plumlee, probably Jerami Grant as well, would likely do pretty well, particularly if the other countries are shorn of their top players because they are still in the NBA playoffs.

Of course, NBC, the network that paid billions to televise the Tokyo Games, would not be very happy if most of the big names had to sit out. The casual fan wants to see LeBron and Durant and Steph Curry.

So far, FIBA has not announced the roster deadline. Don’t be surprised if it’s like an AAU tournament, the final roster is made at the start of the first game.

Other countries depend even more on their NBA stars than the USA. You think Serbia wants to play without Nikola Jokic? Who do they have to replace him?

So if USA Basketball decides they will be a lapdog for the Superstars of the NBA, which is the expected route, and wait until the last minute to see if they would be willing to play, there still is a path for Plumlee to make the Olympic team.