The future of the NBA is nowhere to be found for Team USA
Team USA's Men's Basketball finalists for the Olympic roster is filled with talent, but without Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns the roster is missing one of the league's brightest stars.
Check out U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball Finalists Roster - https://t.co/vayEDA2kM4 #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/vvxEfXygFl
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) January 18, 2016
Towns, who was selected with the first overall selection of the 2015 NBA Draft, has already emerged one of basketball's most impressive players both on offense and defense. Towns averages 15.5 points with 9.5 rebounds and a dominant 1.7 blocks per game. He's effective, shooting .523% from the field. Especially for a big man, he's got a clean free throw shot (.852%) as well.
In 2012, Towns played against the United States as the starting center for the Dominican Republic during a qualifier for the Olympics -- though his team did not qualify. Towns was eligible because his mother is from the Dominican Republic, though he was born in New Jersey.
"I found out it's extremely hard to do what Kobe and the pros do every day," said Towns, via ESPN.com. "You've got to go hard in practice every day, and sometimes it's hard because your body starts wearing down from all of the wear and tear."
While Towns is young (he turned 20 in November), he's an obvious snub for the 2016 Olympics roster. With 30 finalists, why wasn't Towns included?
Other talented Kentucky standouts (e.g. DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and John Wall) all made the cut. Young big men like Davis (22 years old) Andre Drummond (22) will benefit from playing with the NBA's biggest stars if they make the final cut. Including Towns, too, could have been a beneficial developmental experience for the sensational center.
Team USA's roster has lots of talent at power forward and center. Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Kenneth Faried, Draymond Green, LaMarcus Alrdridge, Cousins, Davis and Drummond all make a solid case for their spot on the roster.
But without Towns, Team USA is missing one player who certainly has an extraordinarily bright future in the NBA.
Bryan Kalbrosky produces digital content for FOXSports.com. For more, follow him on Twitter @BryanKalbrosky.
