With only nine players available, Team USA promoted seven players, including three NBA players, from their selection team for five exhibition games over the following week.
Detroit Pistons' Saddik Bay, Cleveland Cavaliers' Darius Garland and San Antonio Spurs' Keldon Johnson will be available for minutes starting Saturday night's game against Nigeria in Las Vegas.
If a player from the national team does not make it to Tokyo – three players are currently competing in the NBA Finals – all three will be candidates for making the national team.
The select team suffered a major setback during the training camp. By Friday, seven members of the team had been out of practice. Naz Reid of the Minnesota Timberwolves was ruled out on Thursday after a minor injury, sources said, and Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat sat out for unknown reasons. Five other players were already ruled out due to injury or COVID protocol.
John Jenkins, Josh Maggett, Dakota Mathias and Cam Reynolds, four veteran internationals who practiced with the senior team this week in an effort to prepare their members for international rules, also stayed for practice games.