Source
r/nba•
Akkuron

With Fox withdrawing, Pop now has a pool of 13 players to pick a 12-man roster from. Who gets cut?

  • Donovan Mitchell
  • Kemba Walker
  • Joe Harris
  • Marcus Smart
  • Derrick White
  • Jaylen Brown
  • Chris Middleton
  • Jayson Tatum
  • Harrisson Barnes
  • Kyle Kuzma
  • Mason Plumlee
  • Brook Lopez
  • Myles Turner

There seems to be a logjam at guard, but small ball is all the rage nowadays and Team USA players can play out of position with their athletic advantage.

So, who's the odd man out?

Is it Derrick White? Will Pop do his own boy dirty? Is it Joe Harris, who is actually white? Has Tatum even got his parents' permission slip for the trip yet?

Posted Aug 19, 2019, 1:26 PM UTC

482280
anothergimmickRaptors•

Who the fuck is Chris Middleton

738
MrAnder5on[TOR] Serge Ibaka•

Khris Middletons twin of course

234
atom786[TOR] Alvin Williams•

Chris came first but their parents weren't prepared for twins so they panicked when naming them

66
wtf_is_karma•

Uhh uhhh fuck it name him pychael

24
jeebus_crest•

Ah good old Michael and pichael

5
trailer-park-drinkr•

Hey atleast he got a cooking show out of it

3
5times20is100Spurs•

Michael and Pichael from Rick and Morty?

0†
WelcomeToKawasicPark•

From state farm

49
BrotherSeamusThunder•

She sounds hideous.

20
Nick_ScopesKnicks•

Well she's a guy so...

15
AyeeDwayneeKnicks•

This made me laugh entirely too hard

3
thepobvBulls•

Seriously who tf is he lol. It didnt registered until I saw the comment because I thought it was khris.

Edit- holy shit, I'm a dumbass. Almost 4am, I'm dead tired and cant sleep because of preworker out caffeine tho.

3
FreshwaterBeach[PHI] Ben Simmons•

And Harrisson Barnes

1
roseyroseyBulls•

I'd cut this imposter. If it were Khris he could play, but we don't need someone pretending to be him.

1
MichaelBolton23Lakers•

Kate Middletons brother.

0
but_then_i_got_highh[MIL] Sterling Brown•

I cringed when I got to that part lmao

0
Creddit0rDebit•

You know Tatum is a parent himself right? lmao

443
themilkman42069•

That whole draft pretty much had kids pop out during their rookie seasons

311
chitownbulls92[CHI] Lauri Markkanen•

Tatum, Lauri, Lonzo from the top of my head. Who else?

167
unnamedredditnameRaptors•

DeAaron Fox and I think one more person too

152
FranknStein07Suns•

Jackson

119
Zomg_A_ChickenLakers•

Having a kid and watching Dragon Ball reruns

1
PullupShootShootJT0NBA•

Not Fultz, he couldn't find his stroke.

57
SwordOfBufkusPistons•

its like all these fuckers think they don't need to pull out during sex anymore now that they're teenage millionaires.

8
[deleted]•

Man that's crazy, nothing against it but holy fuck having a kid at 18 would be a nightmare for me lol.

3
Nosalis2•

All these idiots easily getting trapped while KD & Harden are still childless past year 10

117
cubicuban[SAC] Peja Stojakovic•

That’s insane efficiency from harden considering he spends 300 nights a year at strip clubs.

128
ZigxyPacers Bandwagon•

the hottest dudes cant get pregnant

47
PsykotixxRockets•

Word on the street is Harden had a kid secretly. Personally heard it from a friend who knows things like this. Then a few days later I think a couple rumor articles popped up as well.

13
trailer-park-drinkr•

Nice try Chris Paul

62
Nosalis2•

Cap

7
froztehLakers•

You think it's be a solid investment to get your tubes tied temporarily if you were a ball player.

5
Dazegobye•

Thats.... not what happens in guys. Lil more snippity snip action down there than a simple bunny ears tie job.

17
d7h7nMavericks•

Harrison Barnes also has no kid but is married.

1
Creddit0rDebit•

2017 draft class pull out game weak as hell

80
notasianjimSpurs•

Nah, they just wanted that Fred VanVleet daddy energy to go for ROTY

47
dea_artio[GSW] Klay Thompson•

FVV said it wasn't because of his kid that he went off. Not that anybody believed him - but he said it.

16
AtWorkPoopin•

It they just spreading some super fresh seed

1
WelcomeToKawasicPark•

Anchor babies

9
F7U12_ANALYSISNBA•

Real talk tho blows my mind. Give yourself a couple years in the league before thinking about having kids god damn

79
Freak_Fest76ers•

Doubt he planned it lol

114
romneyspesh666[PHO] Charles Barkley•

No way any of those kids made a decision to impregnate somebody. Somebody's gotta look out for these kids coming into the league.

38
Walkerg2011Celtics•

u/YungSnuggie

65
dea_artio[GSW] Klay Thompson•

I'd say they should focus more on these kids cumming in a chick as opposed to them coming into the league.

9
Son_of_AtreusCeltics•

Yeah with his ex-girlfriend. He had already started a new relationship when he was told that a baby was on the way.

Girl talked Tatum into one last fling before he went off to start his NBA career.

Eighteen years, eighteen years. She got one of your kids, got you for eighteen years.

9
Some-Other-Commenter[CLE] Cedi Osman•

Pop won’t cut Derrick White.

207
gregatronnSpurs•

If he plays well, he won't. If he doesn't, he will. Pop also isn't the only coach so there is more than just him evaluating talent.

66
[deleted]•

I feel like even if pop was unilateral decision maker he’d cut his own underperforming player to teach him a lesson

63
gregatronnSpurs•

Yup. Agreed. Pop's all about teaching, but he's also tough.

Going back to his coaching in SA -

Duncan made Pop's life easier because he allowed Pop to yell at him. When the coach yells at Duncan and he takes it, no one else ever has the right to claim anything otherwise.

And some of Pop's biggest targets were a younger Tony Parker. Then Danny Green took the torch.

25
lifecantgetyouhighRaptors•

Watching Danny play this year I can definitely empathize. I love him but sometimes...

13
MarkHoppusJr[BOS] Isaiah Thomas•

Lmao I remember Parker being the guy who received all the yelling from Pop in his younger years. Well, pop's yelling turns a 28th pick into a championship caliber talent.

6
stefan__urquelle•

It’s not only Pop’s decision and if he’s the worst player then he will get cut

1
TheR3dMenaceRaptors•

need a 2nd PG anyway right?

1
DoctorHubrisWarriors•

Let his own player rest and run his nba competition ragged? Sounds like Pop might cut him.

-1
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

One of Harris, Barnes, or Kuzma.

According to Windhorst*, Harris was struggling shooting with the international ball (which could have changed by now though).

​

edit: Windhorst* said Woj at first by mistake.

171
StewartTurkeylinkNets•

He looks pretty good to me.

Windhorst also said that was only on the first day of camp. First day of trianing camp using a ball you've never used before is gonna be rough probably.

63
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

Yeah I figured he would get used to it. I just haven’t heard anything about him lately.

I would love to see Harris in the FIBA so hopefully he is doing well!

14
Rkenne16Cavaliers•

I’d imagine that you take Harris assuming he’ll come around. I feel like the role playing shooters are just to important on team USA, who always has a glut of on ball type guys.

55
kkawesome123476ers•

Windhorst also said middleton struggled shooting and he was arguably the best player against Spain during the exhibition

26
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

Middleton is a lot more than just a 3 point shooter though. He will be one of their best defenders/shot creators, and would operate as a secondary facilitator

44
kkawesome123476ers•

Nearly all his points were off jumpers so just shows that even though he may have struggled in practice he still ended up shooting the ball well

18
FerromagneticfluidKings•

I doubt Barnes or Harris.

Harris is kinda like Klay or Buddy, the scouting report says you never leave him open so he is always spreading the floor and it is difficult for him to get the space he needs, but is still a factor.

I don't know why people hate on Barnes so much. He is a good all around player you can slot into literally any team, will do what is asked of him. Those are the kind of players you want on a team full of players who don't have a lot of experience playing with each other. And he is suppose to be the Vet there.

I would think it would be Kuzma or Brown, probably Brown in my opinion. Smart definitely being cut though if he isn't healthy enough.

25
ThatBull_cj76ers Bandwagon•

They will need Joe Harris off ball movement and elite shooting.

Gotta be brown, or Barnes, they are pretty duplicative, and they don’t need both

4†
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

If Harris is struggling shooting they wont keep him though, and reports were that he was struggling shooting. I'd like to see him make it so hopefully he comes around.

I think Brown makes it over Barnes easily, as Brown is one of the better defenders for team USA

25
ThatBull_cj76ers Bandwagon•

Even if Harris is missing some shots in practice, you think the best coaches in the world is gonna take a couple of practices over a season he just shot 47% from 3? And he still will draw a lot of attention of pindowns unlike anybody else.

And if smart back they not gonna really need brown defense , and Barnes can actually play the 4

32
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

Well they said people are struggling with the ball because it is a different ball with different seams. Might be a bigger issue than Harris just being cold and more of a problem with him adjusting to a different ball.

Also for the defence, you can run Smart and Brown together and it gives you two great perimeter defenders. Harris doesn't provide much for defence and if he isn't spacing the floor notably better than other guys than he doesn't provide much upside.

4†
Andy4574Nets•

One bad playoff series and people think he's a bad shooter.

1
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

I was going off of reports of him with the FIBA ball

2
BoneTugsNHarmony•

Maybe he'll cut Harris & Barnes

1
stefan__urquelle•

Barnes was on the Olympic team. He’s not getting cut

1
TheWonderfulLifeLakers•

Definitely not Kuzma. Best bench scoring option on the team.

-5
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

4
comicbooksven•

laker fans are something else.

2
TheWonderfulLifeLakers•

It’s literally all the guy does... outside of the starters, who is a better scorer on that team at all?

-1
MotoboyAquiEmLondres•

does plumlee has a monster sized dick? why does every coach keep calling him up

106
Bobgodzillaross[DEN] Paul Millsap•

Good defender, rebounder, passer, athlete. Good utility player that never needs the ball for a team with multiple on-ball players. Also, there aren't that many good american centers right now

203
notedgarfigaroHornets•

plus he already has international experience with Team USA, something that shouldn't be discounted.

91
pigeondo•

He's also the backup to the tournament favorites superstar center. Tournament meta makes Plumlee a lock.

28
BamPlsPenetrateMeHeat•

I like Plumlee but there's no way he is better than Bam lol

4
wymzyq•

Bams ceiling is miles higher than plumlee's but if I'm had to pick one to play center today I still think plumlee is the better player.

15
ZandrickEllison•

The Plumlees all went to Duke with Coach K (former team USA coach) so maybe they have a good rep with the organization.

63
holdeno[TOR] Jose Calderon•

Makes sense. If you get a guy with an ok for the NBA game, who you trust to show up, play his role in the system, and not cause any problems. That sounds like the perfect guy for the team at the moment with everyone looking to jump ship atm.

47
ZandrickEllison•

Yeah this is speculative but it could be a military mentality. I noticed Marshall the youngest had signed up for the Marines, and both Coach K and Pop had military backgrounds. Maybe they like that type of discipline

8
Sullan08•

No joke, are you even allowed to be deployed to combat zones at his height? Surely the military also isn't looking to make tailor made shit for a once in a blue moon type of body. Not to mention vehicles.

6
docmartensClippers•

Your brother went to boot camp? Thank you for your service 🇺🇸

-2†
IdEgoLeBron[BOS] Marcus Smart•

FIBA rules value centers very differently. Kenneth Faried is the FIBA goat.

13
binary_spaniardSpain•

Mason has had a good career for now, compare with his draft

3
HolyAty•

Nobody. Somebody will drop.

106
DesolationRobotJazz•

The gentleman's cut.

112
Son_of_AtreusCeltics•

This has been a popular move this year. Head held high as the door slaps their asses.

5
TerribleHyena•

This is the real answer.

9
ThomasMuellerGOAT76ers•

Barnes or Kuzma, both still without a number

99
perkinsfor3[SEA] Gary Payton•

I heard White been among the best players at caml, so I doubt he gets cut.

59
x_TDeck_xSpurs•

But he also had that scrimmage game where he had like 10 TO

33
trailer-park-drinkr•

But i think it will be one of the whites

9
nokneeAnnony•

Common bruh Chris? Harrisson?

38
HardenAdidasRockets•

I'd love to see Chris Harrison on team USA

8
Untchj•

That team weak af lmao

29
SEJ46Jazz•

Considering what the hypothetical team could be, this is horrible.

25
RogueGenius101Lakers•

Lmao that team vs the starting five of Curry, Harden, Kawhi, LeBron, AD

15
xbyoNBA•

It's wild to think that if KD's not injured, one of LeBron, Kawhi, or KD isn't good enough to start.

15
OrangeKookie[BOS] Jaylen Brown•

Bron could just run point

9
[deleted]•

They can all play next to each other

1
RogueGenius101Lakers•

And hypothetically if Giannis was American he wouldn't start either as the reigning MVP

-4
alweezypRaptors•

They're probably still most talented top to bottom by virtue of having 12 nba players, but would anyone be surprised if they got knocked out by one of these teams with a bunch of fiba experienced euroleague vets led by a couple NBA starters/stars

Spain was always a challenge even for the A team, and even if their stars are aging, Marc Gasol is still better than any big the US has. Serbia has Jokic and Bogdan, and a bunch of vets with size. Greece has a bunch of those names I vaguely remember being hyped by euroleague stans as superstars like Printezis and Bourousis next to Giannis.

Even if we might be underrating how good even average NBA players like Harrison Barnes are in the grand scheme of things, Euro teams could still occasionally hang with the "NBA elite" on the strength of roster continuity and international experience. I'm pretty interested to see how they fare against the "NBA average"

22
Calebtheking03[LAL] Lonzo Ball•

Joe probably or Kuz, IMO white would have been cut, but he plays for the Spurs

28
KuyaJohnny[SAS] Derrick White•

White has been a shitton of praise by the coaches, nephews on here are underrating him way too much

61
Kevin_Durants_Alt•

Well sure, if you're an assistant on a team where Popovich is head coach, it makes sense to gush about how wonderful the Spurs player is

-24
WWIVeteranSpurs•

JVG is a Spurs assistant now?

20
Mdgt_Pope•

Pop is the head coach of Team USA and JVG is an assistant coach for Team USA.

I don't share the guy's sentiment about yes men, just saying he didn't mistype or anything.

4
chip-butty•

I mean its not like his assistants are hurting for work and need to brown nose. Steve Kerr is one of them lol

13
jdjdthrow•

Really? Pop seems likes he has those old school principles-- like honor and honesty. Don't really see him playing favorites like that. That kind of thing a reputation destroyer and for little gain-- this aint Olympics.

4
Saprano44[TOR] Pops Mensah-Bonsu•

With Fox dropping out two it makes sense to keep White so they have 3 guys that are natural point gaurds (Kemba, White, Smart)

37
lardbiscuits[PHI] Joel Embiid•

Gonna be Kuz.

7
PENIS__FINGERS•

probably not. Its alot more likely that it's marcus smart

0†
wymzyq•

That would leave them with 2 point guards... Not gonna happen

1
PENIS__FINGERS•

not true. especially if hes hurt

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-10
claymiller123Nuggets•

Yea i don’t think it matters who we cut, Jokic and the boys are gonna probably beat us 😂

23
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-22
chip-butty•

I would too probably, only thing is the rest of the Serbia team are miles from being scrubs

56
lundej16Bucks•

Serbia beat Greece yesterday too lol

34
stepback-one[SEA] Shawn Kemp•

Without Jokic

19
Tarkovsky-Andrei•

serbia without jokic and with incredibly biased refs for greece just beat giannis so it’s almost certainly going to be serbia

44
ajonstageKnicks•

Serbia has 4 other NBA players on the roster besides Jokic now that Guduric signed in Memphis.

13
The_Rejected_StoneRockets•

Serbia just beat Greece, without Jokic.

5
GoosebunsSuns•

Neither one plays with scrubs, though

2
BJ_Fantasy_PodcastJazz•

Greece was pretty rough yesterday outside of Giannis and his bro.

2
Aurion7Hornets•

The Serbian team aren't scrubs, so it's a moot point.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
-Billy_Pilgrim-•

I bet Brook Lopez is withdrawing before the final cut

16
NorthofSophiaLakers•

Chris Middleton for sure. Dude’s not even in the league.

14
thepobvBulls•

Lmao I googled him and only saw Khris. Corrected Google to only search for Chris but still no cigar. Must really sucks for him.

Edit- holy shit, I'm a dumbass. Almost 4am, I'm dead tired and cant sleep because of preworker out caffeine tho.

3
im_so_not_creativeBucks•

bruh

2
A_C83Spurs•

I wouldn’t sleep on DWhite- obviously biased here but he’s a hooper and has apparently been balling out. That being said Pop will cut anyone, even his guy. Gotta imagine a few of these other guys will be on the chopping block though. Absolute shame Fox left, what a beast

12
AudioDope562Clippers•

Barnes or Kuzma

8
ec2xsSpurs•

Won’t be white. They need a backup primary ballhandler after Kemba. Smart can dribble, but I don’t think they want him running too much point in international play, especially since he had missed time and reps.

6
Sharpedd[DAL] Dirk Nowitzki•

he should just cut all of em and get the spurs roster

5
HuckFinn69Spurs•

Too many international players

11
infinitelimits00•

This might be unpopular but I think I would cut Kuzma. He's the only one that doesn't have a specific skill and his overall skill set is dominated by other players at the same position who will make the team (Middleton, Tatum). Barnes and Brown aren't good either but Barnes has experience which might be valued more by coaches and Brown is more athletic/better defender. Joe Harris is the worst player but he's got a specific skill which is knocking down jump shots. Derrick White is young but he's an athletic defender and another ball handler. Marcus Smart has been hurt but he's also a very good wing defender. Plumee will be needed vs Jokic and Gasol for defense. Kuzma doesn't have a single skill that stands out so I would vote him.

5
DANNYBOYLOVERLakers•

I think the biggest case for keeping Kuzma is his size. We need more length with our lack of depth at C

1
PubDefLakersGuy•

Chris Middleton. Because he does not exist.

3
whiskyhighballMavericks•

It comes down to him or Harrisson Barnes.

3
PubDefLakersGuy•

I was making fun of the fact that his name is Khris not Chris.

0
whiskyhighballMavericks•

Oh I see now! That went over my head. I was just making fun of the fact that his name is Harrison and not Harrisson.

2