OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander commits to National team adding to Canadian backcourt depth

OKC Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander commits to the National team for summer wild card tournament and bid for Canada to earn Olympic berth.

The rising star of the OKC Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joined his cousin and several of his countrymen in a common announcement this week. A deluge of Canadian NBA stars took to social media or spoke publicly to confirm their intention to play for their country this summer.

That could mean participation in two big events. The first of which is a wild card tournament to determine the final four berths to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Each tournament features six countries and only the winner of the tournament will advance to play in Tokyo.

This was the other good news Canada received as they were selected as one of the host countries for the four tournaments. Vancouver the site of the original Grizzlies franchise will get the honor. That will translate into home-friendly crowds cheering on the home team. And, if you’ve watched FIBA action you know how important that sixth man can me.

https://twitter.com/BeMore27/status/1199447418804137985

Although Dillon Brooks already committed the first big name star name to publicly commit was Jamal Murray. The Nuggets guard had intended to participate this past summer but an ankle injury kept him for joining.

In fact, several players were felled by injury including RJ Barrett (calf), Kelly Olynyk (got injured in pretournament play). In the end, a team that could’ve been comprised of all NBA talent featured only Cory Joseph and Khem Birch.

That won’t be the case this summer as Shai was one of many who joined in with Murray committing to play.

SGA’s cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker will also suit up for Team Canada. Earlier this week with his Knicks in town to play the Toronto Raptors, RJ Barrett confirmed his intent. That’s not a surprise given his father Rowan is the General Manager of Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team.

Other players who’ve publicly committed include Chris Boucher and Oshae Brissett who play for the Raptors and the Team Canada head coach Nick Nurse. The Raptors coach took over the mantle this past summer assuming the helm quite literally days after the NBA Finals ended.

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Dwight Powell and Khem Birch are also on board and it’s a pretty safe bet Kelly Olynyk, Tristan Thompson, and Cory Joseph who’ve played repeatedly for their country will be on board.

Others could include Brandon Clarke, Ignas Brazdeikis, Mfiondu Kabengele, Trey Lyles,
Naz Mitrou-Long Marial Shayok and yet another OKC Thunder player Luguentz Dort.

The elephant in the room is Andrew Wiggins who initially was keen to play for his home country but something happened along the way and he’s been a no show the past few seasons. For Canada’s sake let’s hope the addition of Murray and SGA will encourage him to change his mind.

Although there are ample international squads who’ll serve up talented teams (Australia, Serbia, Spain) the prospect of another team besides the United States with a full roster of NBA talent is exciting. It would highlight for the World how quickly they can grow their own talent base and let’s be honest having 24 NBA players on two Olympic teams is simply compelling.

That said, it’s not a given Canada can get that Olympic berth since they’ll need to win that wild card tournament in Vancouver which means they’ll need to get by Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Greek team. Still, it’s a far cry from the ‘Death Group’ H that Canada faced this past summer. The aptly titled H group held perennial favorites Australia and Lithuania and an improving Senegal team. It was by far the deepest first-round group.

The other four countries attending the Vancouver tournament are 10th ranked Czech Republic, 15th ranked Turkey, 27th ranked China and 43rd ranked Uruguay. Greece is ranked seventh and Canada is ranked 21st however that ranking is based on the team which featured only two NBA players on it.

Pool A is comprised of Canada, Greece, and China while Pool B is the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Uruguay. The top two teams from each pool will move on to cross over and play each other in the semi’s and ultimately the finals with only one team advancing.

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It’s not a given Canada will win, but even with the Greek Freak, the Canadians will have more depth and talent to bring to the party. And, depending on what happens in the NBA playoffs if Giannis’ Bucks reach the NBA Finals will he want to suit up days later for this tournament?

One thing is certain with Murray, Gilgeous-Alexander, Alexander-Walker, Barrett, and Joseph (and Wiggins?) the backcourt talent the Canadians can put on the court is as impressive as any country.

The Canadian National basketball program has taken hits over the years with the last success coming when Steve Nash was playing and committed to the program. The hope is with the talent burst and leadership commitment of Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander things will shift. In all, there are 20 NBA players (including four 2-way players) that could vie for the 12 spots with more coming each year.

The type of experience gained in these tournaments and at the Olympics is unparalleled so here’s hoping Gilgeous-Alexander and his Canadian squad gets the opportunity to experience it.