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The Milwaukee Bucks’ Michael Carter-Williams Invited to Tryout for Team USA

By John Heffernon

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Michael Carter-Williams (MCW) has been invited to try out for the USA Men’s National Team according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.

MCW is one of 20 confirmed attendees of the upcoming USA basketball minicamp according to a recent article by Stein. The minicamp will be in Las Vegas at UNLV’s campus and will be conducted from August 11th through August 13th. On August 13th the camp will conclude with an exhibition game.

The purpose of the minicamp is to gauge who is worthy of one of the 12 roster spots for the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The list of players hoping to be one of the final 12 includes:

Apr 8, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) shoots between Cleveland Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov (20) and forward Kevin Love (0) during the third quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Guards: Steph Curry, James Harden, Klay Thompson, Bradley Beal, Mike Conley, Michael Carter-Williams, and Victor Oladipo 

Forwards: Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Chandler Parsons, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Gordon Hayward, Tobias Harris, and Kawhi Leonard

Centers: Andre Drummond and Mason Plumlee 

(This list of attending players should grow as it gets closer to the mini camp’s start date)

MCW isn’t the most talented guy on this list but he isn’t the least talented either. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if he didn’t make this roster.

If that is the case, there is no harm done and Carter-Williams will have gotten three really competitive days of practice with some of his best peers in the NBA. That right there can do a lot of positive things for his development and as Bucks fans we can all get on board with that. But what if he makes the team?

We all know Carter-Williams is not a great shooter and can kill spacing for the lineups he is in as a guard who cannot shoot the three to save his life, but that actually wouldn’t be an issue on this roster. Let’s assume one of the two of Curry or Harden make the roster along with three of the five of Love, Melo, Durant, Leonard and George. Not only would MCW make sense on this roster but he would actually make sense as a starter.

Let’s say, hypothetically, the starting lineup is MCW, Harden, Durant, Anthony, and Drummond. Okay, with this lineup you have some explosive offensive artillery with Harden, Durant, and Anthony. Any one of those three could easily get 30 any given night and all of them operate best with the ball in their hands. MCW is not a shooter and on this team would not even be much of a scorer.

That bodes well here because he can attack the hoop through drives or posting up and then has the ability to dish the ball to any of the scoring machines. Carter-Williams is a blessing on the floor for these guys because they know he won’t take away their shots and will only try to get them involved. I think any offensive lineup with MCW at the point and three snipers around him would be hard to handle in Olympic play.

Apr 21, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) plays defense against the Dallas Mavericks in game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Rockets won 111 to 99. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Defensively, with our hypothetical lineup, is where MCW will really shine. He feasibly could guard any one of the guards or wings on the opposing team. Against an opponent with one great offensive guard and one not so good one MCW could check the better player and Harden could defend (if you can call what James does defending) the other guard. At 6’6″ Carter-Williams would really bother the typically shorter international guards.

Carter-Williams is very good at switching on defense and can cover a myriad of players when the offense causes some mayhem. One possession he could cover the point guard trying to run the offense in the half court and the next he could be slowing down the wing pushing the ball on the fast break.

MCW is so good at this because the Milwaukee Bucks switch so much in their positionless defense. If MCW could bring those attributes he could help a team with mostly scorers be a defensive force.

If MCW did make the team I would be shocked to see him starting but I think he would be a great option to do so with the wealth of offensive talent on the squad.

If he was coming off the bench he could be a defensive specialist that could terrorize smaller bench guards in the post or just facilitate a strong offense with guys like Beal/Thompson/Conley, Leonard/Parsons, Green/George/Melo, and Plumlee at his disposal.

MCW is a good point guard and a great defender but an inefficient scorer. Put him on a team where he doesn’t have to even think about scoring and I think he could be an absolute star.

If he received serious playing time on Team USA I would not be surprised to see him lead the team in assists per 36 minutes and be the best perimeter defender. I think that upside is what got him the invite to the Las Vegas minicamp.

Let’s see if he can show enough of his abilities to warrant one of the coveted roster spots.

Next: Projecting 5 Bucks Who Could Improve The Most Next Season

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