Team USA's roster for the 2019 FIBA World Cup has been finalized. Still carrying 13 players into their exhibition tour in Australia, Gregg Popovich had one more cut to make ahead of the tournament. An injury ended up forcing his hand, as Kyle Kuzma was cut due to ankle injury that would have prevented him from participating in the competition. USA Basketball announced the move early on Saturday morning following its surprising loss to Australia in one of their pre-tournament exhibition games. That defeat was their first ever to Australia, and ended a 78-game winning streak that stretched back to 2006.
This team, which is young and lacking the usual top-tier talent that has populated the national team rosters over the years, will now have plenty of motivation in their quest to earn Team USA a third straight World Cup title. It still has one exhibition game remaining ahead of the tournament, a matchup with Canada in Sydney, Australia on Monday. The first World Cup game is set for Sept. 1 against the Czech Republic.
The squad lost quite a bit of talent to withdrawals before training camp even began, and that trend continued throughout the lead-up to the tournament. Most recently, Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker and De'Aaron Fox all decided to drop out. Lowry and Tucker are still dealing with thumb and ankle injuries, respectively, while Fox decided to focus on the upcoming NBA season, according to Yahoo's Chris Haynes. Now Kuzma has joined the injured list.
Williamson, Beal, Lillard, DeRozan, Harris are among over a dozen players to withdraw from the team this summer, along with Lakers forward Anthony Davis, Rockets guards James Harden and Eric Gordon, Knicks forward Julius Randle, Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell, Pelicans guard JJ Redick, Pistons center Andre Drummond and Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum.
