The 2024 Paris Olympics are now just a couple of weeks away, with the grand event being held from July 26 to August 11. The basketball tournament will commence on July 27 and Australia’s final roster for it has now been finalized, according to ESPN.
“Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Patty Mills, Josh Green, Dante Exum, Jock Landale, Duop Reath, Joe Ingles, Jack McVeigh, Will Magnay, Matthew Dellavedova, Nick Kay.”
The presence of Giddey, Daniels, Mills, Green, Exum, Landale, Reath, and Ingles means the Boomers have eight current NBA players on that roster. Dellavedova and Magnay, meanwhile, have played in the league in the past, with the former winning an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
This group will be led by Brian Goorjian, who was also the national team head coach for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With Goorjian at the helm, the Boomers won the Bronze medal in Tokyo, and it was their first-ever in Olympic men’s basketball.
Green, Exum, Landale, Reath, Mills, Ingles, Dellavedova, and Kay were all part of that medal-winning team and would be keen on winning another for their nation. It certainly won’t be easy, though.
Australia has been drawn into Group A, alongside Canada. The two sides will be joined by the winners of the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that are currently being held in Valencia, Spain, and Piraeus, Greece.
Spain is ranked second in the world and is expected to win their tournament, which would add another heavyweight to Group A. Meanwhile, Greece or Slovenia are expected to make it through from Piraeus, which means either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Doncic will most likely be in this group as well.
Can a potential starting lineup of Mills, Giddey, Daniels, Kay, and Landale lead the Aussies to the knockouts from this group? It seems a bit unlikely, but I wouldn’t completely count them out.
Australia’s first game at the Olympics will be held at 5:00 AM NYT on July 27 against the winner of the tournament in Spain. They will then take on Canada at 7:30 AM NYT on July 30 and finally the winner of the tournament in Greece at 7:30 AM NYT on August 2.
Getting back to that roster, there are two notable omissions. The biggest one is Ben Simmons, but his absence is down to a back injury. Simmons underwent surgery to alleviate a nerve impingement in his lower back in March and due to that, wasn’t even part of the preliminary 22-man Olympic squad for the Boomers.
Simmons’ withdrawal from the Olympics means the long wait to see him suit up for the national team continues. The 27-year-old hasn’t played for Australia since 2013 but seemed determined to take part in the Olympics. It wasn’t to be for Simmons, though, and that’s a real shame.
As for the other notable omission, it is Portland Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle. Thybulle was part of that 22-man squad and featured in one of the Boomers’ exhibition games against China earlier this month, but he has been left out of the final roster.
The 12 that have been selected will be flying to Abu Dhabi on July 10. They’ll play exhibition games against Team USA and Serbia there, after which they’ll head over to France.
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