Paul George was unable to join the actual practices and scrimmages of USA Basketball recently in Las Vegas but it looks like his presence over there was enough to convince Team USA officials that he deserves a spot in the roster once the 2016 Rio Olympics comes around.
Everyone knows that George is not at 100% after suffering that horrific injury practically one year ago.
It will be recalled that during an intrasquad scrimmage, George tried to defend against James Harden on a fastbreak and ended up landing awkwardly at the basket's stanchion.
George ended up with a tibia and fibula fracture after that sorry sight, causing him to miss most of the 2014–15 NBA season.
Even though George was able to rejoin the Pacers for some of the last games of the team's regular season schedule, it was apparent that the star forward was not yet ready for the rigors of competitive basketball. For that reason, he was used sparingly to get himself accustomed for the coming season.
The Pacers would eventually miss the playoffs at that time. Had the Pacers made the playoffs, George would have been likely ruled out anyway after reportedly suffering a calf strain.
Could things be different this year for George? It seems that he is ready for the 2015–16 NBA wars and such could be a gauge to see how prepped he is as far as Team USA's mission for the 2016 Rio Olympics is concerned.
George wasn't the only one who was present but did not play. Some other guys coming off sick bay were also around during minicamp, including Kevin Durant and Kevin Love. Lebron James was there as well but had to cut his stay short due to personal commitments made before the minicamp schedule was finalized.
"We thought it's the right thing to do," Colangelo said via NBA.com. "That's it.... We didn't give thought to all the details. Just that when a guy goes down and all these things, the circumstances, his career passes before him, he's out for a year, a year plus, he's not able to participate with us at the moment — we wanted to throw that out and say, 'We're counting on you. You've got a spot in '16.' "
With George and most likely Durant, Love, and James having guaranteed spots, it should be interesting who among the 34 players present at camp will be named to the final roster.
