Julius Randle -- one of the newest Knicks -- has been added to USA Basketball's training camp roster for the FIBA World CUP, SNY's Ian Begley confirmed on Tuesday. The Athletic's Shams Charania was first on the report.
Randle, along with Celtics F Jaylen Brown, were the latest additions to the roster after many others backed out. Many are focusing on the upcoming season and don't want to participate in the tournament.
Players like Anthony Davis, James Harden, Tobias Harris, CJ McCollum, and even Zion Williamson have all backed out. Bradley Beal does have a solid excuse in his wife expecting their second son during the time of the World Cup.
However, stars like Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love still remain on the roster. Lillard and Love, though, haven't made their final decision on joining the team for training camp.
Now these invites are just for training camp. There will be a final 12-man roster made on Aug. 17, with camp beginning on Aug. 5 out in Las Vegas. Gregg Popovich will be the head coach for Team USA.
After a breakout season in 2018 where he averaged 21.4 points on 52.4 percent shooting over 30.6 minutes of court time per game, Randle has a good shot to represent the stars and stripes this year in China.
Randle won't be the only Knick training with Team USA. Second-year center Mitchell Robinson has been named to the Team USA select team. He'll be part of a group of younger players competing against veterans in training camp."