Sacramento Kings’ Willie Cauley-Stein was named to the USA Select Team on Tuesday. He, along with other up-and-coming NBA players will train with the national team to prepare for the Summer Olympics later this summer.
The more playing time and practices Cauley-Stein gets this offseason the better. He will be getting some quality time playing against the best in the league and being coached by the best coaches in the NBA. And this is all good news for his sophomore season.
Next month he will be in Las Vegas to join his USA Select team to practice against Team USA to prepare them for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He will also be participating in Summer League in Vegas for the Kings as well (per Sacramento Bee).
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He could be joining his teammates All-Star DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay there, as both are competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic roster. Cousins and Gay played on the national team that won the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain back in 2014.
Do you remember the monster season DeMarcus Cousins had after his USA Basketball summer in 2014? He made the most of his time with the other NBA All-Stars, and he became an All-Star himself for the first time that year, and I predict that Willie Cauley-Stein could greatly improve over this summer as well by participating with Team USA.
Oh, and in 2012 Cousins was chosen as a member of the Select Team.
Cauley-Stein can add this honor along with a successful rookie year he had with the Kings as well as being picked for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team this season.
On the Select Team, WCS will be joining fellow rookies Justise Winslow of the Miami Heat, Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers, D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers, Stanley Johnson of the Detroit Pistons, Emmanuel Mudiay of the Denver Nuggets, and Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers.
They will be joining veterans like C.J. McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers, Zach Lavine of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Doug McDermott of the Chicago Bulls, Jabari Parker of the Milwaukee Bucks and Rodney Hood of the Utah Jazz.
Duke’s Brandon Ingram (who might be going 1st in this year’s draft) and Providence’s Kris Dunn (who the Kings could possibly draft) are also going to be on the Select team.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will oversee the collective group.