USA Basketball: Is It Time To Send The College Players Again?

USA Basketball should once again dominate the competition in the Olympics. Is it time to send the college kids and keep the NBA players out of the Olympics?

Team USA went into their first game of the 2016 Rio Olympics as a 48-point favorite.

They covered, winning 119-62 in a game that was never in question.

This is the unfairness of Team USA versus the world in basketball right now and made some question whether or not USA Basketball would be better off sending collegiate players, as was the norm before the Dream Team came to fruition in the 1992 Olympics.

Even without the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard and many other of the NBA’s elite class, the U.S. will almost certainly breeze through the competition on their way to a third consecutive gold medal.

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After years of threats from other countries, including a nightmare bronze medal finish in the 2004 Olympics, the gap has widened yet again in the favor of the United States.

The games aren’t competitive and seem to come with more risk of injury than reward.

Ask Paul George and the Indiana Pacers, who went from the top seed in the East in 2013-14 to out of the playoffs in 2014-15 in large part to George’s gruesome lower leg injury while playing for the U.S.  in an exhibition prior to the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

The debate on whether or not NBA players should participate in international competitions isn’t limited to fans.

Outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner made it clear in the wake of George’s injury that he’s against NBA players competing in the Olympics, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

"“The [International Olympic Committee] is playing the NBA. The IOC is an organization that has been rife with corruption, to the point where a member was accused of trying to fix an Olympic event in Salt Lake. The IOC [pulls in] billions of dollars. They make a killing and make Tony Soprano look like a saint.“The pros in multiple sports are smart enough to not play when they are eligible free agents. But teams take on huge financial risk so that the IOC committee members can line their pockets.“The greatest trick ever played was the IOC convincing the world that the Olympics were about patriotism and national pride instead of money. The players and owners should get together and create our own World Cup of Basketball.”"

Cuban’s viewpoint is fair and it’s easy to see his point from his position.

NBA teams pay the players millions and millions of dollars for their talent while the players receive zero dollars directly for playing for Team USA.

The Olympics rake in money but the players don’t directly receive any of the money, while the players and their teams assume all of the risk for their participation.

Why send out some of the best players for free while risking their health in games that aren’t competitive?

Well, the alternative isn’t the most attractive idea.

Let’s say the Olympics go back to pre-1992 rules and NBA players aren’t allowed to participate.

What would Team USA look like?

Perusing Jason McIntyre’s top 50 players in college basketball for next season, this is what a team may look like.

Starters

PG. Markelle Fultz, Washington (Freshman)
SG. Josh Jackson, Kansas (Freshman)
SF. Hayson Tatum, Duke (Freshman)
PF. Ivan Rabb, Cal (Sophomore)
C. Harry Giles, Duke (Freshman)

Bench

Thomas Bryant, Indiana (Sophomore)
Lonzo Ball, UCLA (Freshman)
Grayson Allen, Duke (Junior)
Trevor Lydon, Syracuse (Sophomore)
Monte Morris, Iowa State (Senior)
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (Sophomore)
Justin Jackson, North Carolina (Junior)

This is the team made entirely of college players, but if non-NBA players can be used, it could also include free agents and retired players. Would Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan team up for one last appearance with Team USA, teaming up with the stars of tomorrow?

How about former players rumored to be trying to make a return to the NBA like Ray Allen, Derek Fisher, Stephen Jackson, Richard Hamilton or Jermaine O’Neal?

Making some combination of players who are years removed from their primes in either direction would be a tricky task.

In 1988, the last team of collegiate stars earned a bronze medal after losing to the Soviet Union. The loss and the bronze finish was the spark that started the allowance of NBA players in the Olympics, to prevent embarrassing finishes in the future.

That 1988 team was led by a 23-year-old David Robinson, a 23-year-old Dan Majerle and a 22-year-old Danny Manning. Every player on the team went on to play in the NBA. None of them were younger than 20 years old at the time of the Olympics.

If a team led by a bunch of longtime NBA players and a couple Hall of Famers (Robinson and Mitch Richmond) in their early 20s couldn’t win gold, would a group consisting of nine underclassmen be able to?

How about if we team those underclassmen with former NBA players who might be twice their age?

It’s hard to imagine that team winning gold, although the games would certainly be more closer and thus, more entertaining.

It would also provide as an excellent ground for NBA scouts, for fans of the game to get familiar with the potential stars of tomorrow, and possibly as a place for young players to enjoy the bump in improvement that NBA players see after participating in international basketball.

I’d also argue that the fact that NBA teams pay players and having guaranteed contracts could be used in an argument against having college players represent the United States.

Imagine of the injury that happened to Paul George would’ve happened to a college freshmen, costing them their college season and stunting their development.

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Look at the injury issues of

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and other young players who suffered career-altering injuries. All of those players suffered their injuries after receiving contracts for playing.

If those players suffered an injury that altered their playing careers before they got paid for their talents, that would be much worse than an NBA player suffering a brutal injury. It wouldn’t immediately affect an NBA team or their payroll, but it would be much worse risk for the players.

In addition, the first time that USA Basketball is challenged or defeated in international competition, the conversation would bounce back as to why doesn’t the United States send their best athletes.

The Olympics are about the best athletes in the world representing their countries, not having competitive games.

The premise that the games being unfair is correct, but that doesn’t mean the United States should send an inferior squad.

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The issues at hand are valid, but none of the solutions are perfect and would create issues of their own if implemented.