I was just thinking about how the field will look in 2016 and realized that Canada has a lot of really talented young prospects. In the NBA or have NBA experience: Tristan Thompson Cory Joseph Andrew Nicholson Robert Sacre Kris Joseph Joel Anthony Andy Rautins Matt Bonner Soon to be in the NBA: Andrew Wiggins (projected #1 pick) Myck Kabongo (projected lottery pick) Anthony Bennett (projected lottery pick) Potential NBA Players - Tyler Ennis (top 20 recruit in '13) Kevin Pangos (WCC Freshman of the Year) Khem Birch (top 10 recruit in '11) Kelly Olynyk (7'0" wing for Gonzaga) Kyle Wiltjer (starting PF for Kentucky) Dwight Powell (Stanford PF, projected 2nd rounder) That's a pretty deep talent pool for a country that has only qualified for the Olympics once since 1988.
Enormous hype behind Wiggins at the moment. If he lives up to half of it the program will be in good shape. Sam Dalembert should still be playing in 2016. Magloire and Nash will both be retired.
Yeah, Nash was given the position of "General Manager," or something to that extent, which leads me to believe he'll put Pangos on the roster, given their relationship. I don't think Dalembert will be on the 2016 team. I know he has dual citizenship, but Rautins pretty much kicked him off the squad a few years back, and I can't see Leo Rautins bending on that, especially if it means costing his own son a roster spot. (Another possible Canadian player that probably won't make the team is Trey Lyles, a top 10 recruit in 2014 who has played for Team USA's junior squads despite being born in Canada.) Magloire might as well have been retired since 2006. His agent must be the best sports agent that ever lived for Magloire's name to still be on NBA minds at this point. With that said, Wiggins is definitely the linchpin of a Canadian run, but the reason I decided to make a thread about it is that I didn't realize how much other talent they had up there. Some people say the reason for the talent explosion came from families that immigrated to Canada from Africa or the Caribbean, some say it was due to Steve Nash, and even more say it was due to a generation growing up with the Toronto Raptors and (briefly) the Vancouver Grizzlies. Regardless of how it happened, Canada is sending talent to U.S. high schools and colleges at an unprecedented rate. We talk about Andrew Wiggins, but what about Anthony Bennett, Myck Kabongo, and Tristan Thompson? Each of those prospects have the "potential" to be great NBA players, and those other players I listed could potentially join that group. So far, Cory Joseph hasn't played at all, and it'd be easy to prematurely call him a bust, but he's also one of the youngest players in the NBA and can still develop into a starting point guard. The fact of the matter is that there have never been this many young Canadian prospects in basketball history, and to think down the road four years, it'd not out of line to imagine them challenging Team USA.
Leo Rautins is out. Rumour has it Jay Triano is on his way back. Rautins gone means Dalembert could and probably will return. I definitely think having NBA teams in Canada from the mid-90s has helped elevate the game in the country more than any other factor.
