Mason Plumlee’s rise from afterthought to member of Team USA is complete.
Plumlee was named as one of the final 12 members of the roster for the FIBA World Cup early Saturday morning, capping a remarkable turn of events that’s seen him go from heading to Las Vegas as part of the Select Team — a group of young players brought to be practice players against the national team — to solidifying himself as one of the finalists after impressing Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski and the rest of team’s hierarchy throughout the last few weeks.
The cuts were supposed to be announced in Saturday morning ahead of the team’s charter flight to Spain in the afternoon, but USA Basketball’s Twitter account announced the final 12-man roster shortly before 1 a.m.
“Everybody’s waiting, everybody’s a little on edge,” Plumlee said after playing in Team USA’s final tune-up before leaving, a 112-86 win over Puerto Rico. “It’s been a great experience.
“Whatever happens, I’ll be grateful for the opportunity.”
His opportunity likely will last through the gold medal game in Spain next month, where he could be a key piece for Team USA against the host country, their likely opponents.
The rest of the team includes guards Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, James Harden, Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan; forwards Kenneth Faried and Rudy Gay; and centers Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond and Plumlee.
The four players cut from the team were Damian Lillard, Gordon Hayward, Chandler Parsons and Kyle Korver. Lillard and Hayward were expected cuts, with Korver and Parsons winding up drawing the short straws behind DeRozan and Drummond, who was a surprise addition to the final roster in addition to Cousins and Plumlee.
Rose’s health has been the hottest topic of conversation surrounding Team USA during their weeklong stint in New York after he was held out of practice Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday’s blowout win over the Dominican Republic at the Garden after dealing with soreness following last Saturday’s win over Brazil in his native Chicago.
But with Carmelo Anthony — his possible teammate at one point earlier this summer before choosing to re-sign with the Knicks for five years and $124 million — sitting courtside, Rose finished with six points, four assists and no turnovers in 13 minutes Friday night, and showed Krzyzewski he’s ready to contribute.
“I feel very confident about Derrick,” Krzyzewski said postgame. “I think Derrick feels really confident. I thought he played great tonight, and these guys want to play with him.
“It’s part of getting back is to be around a group of peers who want you to be really good.”
Rose also impressed his teammates. Though he came off the bench behind starter Kyrie Irving he looked very comfortable running the offense, doing a far better job of that than any of the other guards on Team USA’s roster.
“Derrick brings something that we don’t have,” James Harden said. “Being able to push the ball so fast, being able to get in the paint, be athletic … he made a couple of passes for threes, and he looked phenomenal.”