Only a few days after being included on Team USA, earning promotion from the Select Team, Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley III decided to withdraw from the squad. He opted to withdraw just two days before he was to report to El Segundo, California, for the second week of training camp.
Sacramento's Marvin Bagley III, who played well enough in training camp last week to earn a promotion to the @usabasketball senior national team roster, has withdrawn from team activities to focus on the upcoming season, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 11, 2019
Team USA is currently in California following a week of training camp in Las Vegas, and head coach Gregg Popovich now has 16 available players on the roster. Popovich and Jerry Colangelo haven’t selected a replacement for Bagley, so 16 players will compete for 12 places and travel to China later this month.
Bagley played well in USA Basketball’s intrasquad scrimmage and earned promotion to the senior squad, so this decision is somewhat surprising. It was an excellent opportunity for a young player to get experience on the international level, but he decided not to compete for one of 12 roster spots for the World Cup. The Sacramento Kings still have two players left as World Cup roster candidates, with De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes headed to camp this week.
Speaking of teams and players, the Boston Celtics are leading in that category with four players on Team USA roster. Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart are all included, and it wouldn’t be surprising if all of them travel to China.
