Rose Will Participate In Team USA Training Camp
(CBS) Bulls point guard Derrick Rose will participate in Team USA's training camp later this month from which the World Cup team will be selected, USA Basketball announced Monday morning.
Participating in this camp -- which will be Rose's highest level of competition since he tore his right medial meniscus last November -- was the plan all along, but Rose left doubts in late June when he told Yahoo Sports that he didn't know if he'd be ready.
Rose is part of a 19-man roster, which includes fellow point guards Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry. Twelve players will be selected from those 19, and because of his past experience with Team USA, many believe Rose has the inside track to earn a roster spot. ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman wrote Sunday that Rose is one of the "locks" to make the team if healthy.
Rose missed the final 72 games of the past season after tearing his right medial meniscus in late November, and he's only played 49 games in the past three seasons.
Other players on the preliminary roster are Bradley Beal, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Kevin Durant, Kenneth Faried, Paul George, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Gordon Hayward, Kyle Korver, Kevin Love, Klay Thompson, Chandler Parsons and DeMar DeRozan.
Durant and Love are also considered locks for the roster by most.
Those selected to the squad will partake in an exhibition tour in the last couple weeks of August and play in the FIBA World Cup, which will be held from Aug. 30-Sept. 14 in Spain. Team USA opens against Finland on Aug. 30.