Detroit Pistons: Mason Plumlee could make USA Olympic team

How Mason Plumlee can make a star-studded Team USA team

Lebron-Durant-Harden-Curry … Plumlee?

Could that be the starting lineup for the USA Olympic team? Not likely, but possible.

The reason Plumlee made the 2019 World Cup team is that the United States does not have a lot of depth in terms of pure centers.

Taking a look at the provisional roster of 44 players, the only other centers are JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard, Myles Turner and former Pistons center Andre Drummond.

McGee and Howard are backups for their respective NBA teams. Turner does lead the NBA in blocked shots, although the 35-year-old Howard fouled him out and held him to nine points when Turner’s Pacers played the 76ers without Joel Embiid.

Drummond? Chemistry issues, major ones.

We are not talking Shaquille O’Neal or Bill Laimbeer that Plumlee is competing against.

What would set Plumlee apart from the rest of the centers, is that his skill set is perfect for a team with a lot of high-powered offensive players.

If you are basing a team on Plumlee’s offensive capabilities, it is going to be a pretty bad team. He is great at backdoor dunks and layups and can score out of the post a bit, but he is limited outside of five-feet from the basket.

To his credit, Plumlee plays to his strengths. In 21 games for Detroit, he has attempted just five three-point attempts, missing all five. He is making 60% of his two-point shots.

What Plumlee does do well is set screens for ballhandlers. He has helped with Jerami Grant’s scoring success this year by setting a pick to give him space to operate.

He is also a decent rebounder, he is averaging a career-high 8.8 boards a game. Getting dirty in the paint to fight for rebounds is not something a lot of stars like to do.

Would shooters like Steph Curry, James Harden, and Jayson Tatum want to have a center who will not ask for the ball, who would be happy to just set screens to get them open and battle for rebounds?: Absolutely.

The culture of Team USA would also help Plumlee make it. Remember, even the famous 1992 Dream Team, had a role player in Christian Laettner.

You can not play 12 players a lot, you need role players who will keep their mouths shut about playing time and do whatever the coach asks of them.

Basically, the role Plumlee played for Gregg Popovich at the World Cup.

Are we saying Mason Plumlee is one of the top 12 basketball players in the United States? No. But this not the All-Star team, it is the Olympic basketball team, it’s only mission to win as many games as possible.

Plumlee can contribute in a number of ways:

• Already knows the coach’s plays and is experienced in international competition.
• Helps complement shooters by setting great picks.
• Crashes the boards hard, not a trait of most of the players who likely will be on the team.
• At 6-foot-11 provides some size for when they face a tall center like Rudy Gobert.
• Understands his role and will not cause trouble if does not get much playing time in a game.

Like most things, who will be on the roster for Team USA is kind of at the whim of the pandemic.

If there are a ton of postponements of NBA games, and the schedule has to be pushed back, you might see a roster of players whose teams did not make the playoffs. In that case, Jerami Grant would have a good chance, in addition to Plumlee.

If things go well, and the NBA season does end before the Olympics, the lack of practice together will be thrown out the window. Expect to see all the big names (and the most popular with TV viewers) out there for Team USA.

In that case, as a role player, Plumlee would still have a chance of making it.

Team USA’s makeup is one of those interesting side issues that will be part of the rest of the NBA season.