Duncan Robinson Seriously Considered for Final USA Roster Spot

(With Brady Hawk)

As Team USA looks pretty close to complete, while Bam Adebayo headlines things for the Miami Heat, I can report that Duncan Robinson was seriously considered for one of the final spots on the roster, per a league source.

The latest addition of Kevin Love most likely would’ve been Robinson’s roster spot, but possibly the lack of bigs led to them going that route, since Adebayo, Draymond Green, and Jerami Grant were the only guys with size.

As known in that type of setting, you can never have enough shooting, especially when the team is full of a bunch of shot creators and on-ball threats. A roaming Robinson could’ve been a decent spark off the bench, considering the shooting year that he just had.

Even after a rocky start, he finished fourth in the NBA in total three-point makes, only behind Stephen Curry–who opted out of playing for the USA team, Damian Lillard–who will most likely be the starting point guard, and Buddy Hield.

Is rest the worst thing in the world for Robinson after a quick turnaround following a late bubble run and playing all 72 games this past season? The answer is no, but frankly, it’s quite the accolade to go from an undrafted NBA player to a member of the USA team.

As Robinson has discussed on his podcast, The Long Shot, this period of time will be for his individual improvements. And while Adebayo has a better chance of making a leap in one-on-one drills in USA training camp, Robinson seems to be better fitted for specific training including both basketball and body workouts.

Is Kevin Love a better fit for the USA team’s roster? Probably not, considering the year he just had, dropping to 12 points a game, which his only worse year statistically was his rookie season. But the combination of rest and individual improvement feels to be the focus this off-season for Robinson, as he prepares for a decent sized deal in the coming weeks.