Team USA has stayed perfect throughout their exhibition schedule in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, most recently handling Serbia easily to improve to 3-0.
After clearly finding their footing against Canada and Australia, USA is showing steady improvement with each game they play with one another. In particular, their bench led by Anthony Edwards, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker and Bam Adebayo, has really thrived.
Against Serbia, Edwards came out strong with 16 points and Adebayo topped that with 17 points and eight rebounds. While Davis only scored seven points, he also had six rebounds with an impressive six blocks.
The Los Angeles Lakers star has consistently outplayed Joel Embiid, who has not looked like himself through these first three exhibition games. However, head coach Steve Kerr expects to keep starting LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Embiid, via Fadeaway World:
Steve Kerr expects to continue playing LeBron, Steph, and Embiid as starters: "Yeah, I like those three guys in the starting lineup. We've been looking at other guys around them and we obviously do have great options, but I like those three guys together." pic.twitter.com/y0C6hJpW9U
— Fadeaway World (@FadeawayWorld) July 17, 2024
Embiid is a center that lives for contact and so far through these exhibitions, referees have not allowed him to get away with it. The former MVP has the makeup to play physically but elects not to, and has also struggled to fit next to other stars.
On the other hand, Davis is fitting in perfectly, coming off the bench providing rebounding and much-needed rim protection. While it is good to have a player like that as a reserve, at some point, Kerr may need to consider making a change before it is too late.
All in all, Davis played 16 minutes on Wednesday and Embiid played 17 for Team USA, yet the All-Defensive center put up more production. Embiid had eight points and eight rebounds on 2-for-8 from the field and 0-for-3 from 3-point range. Perhaps seeing how Davis performs coming off the bench is something that Kerr does not want to disrupt, but at the very least, Embiid’s leash should realistically get shorter.
Steve Kerr previously planned to experiment with Team USA lineups
With almost a week left until the Paris Olympics kick off, there is not much time left to experiment with lineups to see what works. However, Kerr recently said that he would continue to experiment through their exhibition schedule as Davis continues to impress in his second stint with Team USA.
It’s hard to imagine Kerr starting both Davis and Embiid though, so with him now committing to the latter, it looks like the former will continue coming off the bench.
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