The Knicks will be represented at late August’s FIBA World Championships, though not on Team USA.
The Knicks two top point guards will be playing for their respective countries and just reported to training camp in the last two days — Jose Calderon and Pablo Prigioni.
Calderon will play for Spain, which is starting to look like a possibility to win it all after Kevin Love’s defection from Team USA on Saturday.
Spain lost a tight battle to the U.S. Olympic Team in the gold-medal game in London in 2012.
Prigioni, meanwhile, will man the point guard position for Argentina, which in 2012 was beaten by Russia in the bronze-medal game in the final seconds, after which Prigioni kicked over a time mechanism in frustration.
Prigioni stands to be the backup to Calderon this upcoming season.
Love’s withdrawal because of his uncertain situation with Minnesota has led to speculation that perhaps a desperate Team USA would promote Nets big man Mason Plumlee from the U.S. practice squad to vie for a spot on the 12-man roster.
Team USA reports to training camp Sunday and will hold its first practice Monday. Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge were late withdrawals from camp, leaving USA thin in the frontcourt, especially when it goes up against Spain with the Gasol brothers.
“The fact is we can only look to the players we have available,” Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo said in a statement. “Our job is to get the job done with our very, very deep roster, and we’re anxious to get things started.”
In the statement, Team USA said Love was “unavailable” because of his “current status” — a reference to the trade demand he has made to Minnesota.
The Cavaliers are leading candidates to acquire Love, though they signed first overall pick Andrew Wiggins to his rookie contract, making him untradeable for 30 days.
According to ESPN, more than a dozen teams have made bids for Love, with the Cavs, Bulls and Warriors the most serious contenders.
As expected, the Knicks made an offer for Love recently. The organization, as The Post reported, has known all along Love likely would not get to free agency in 2015 and they most likely would have to make a deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported the Knicks offer was Amar’e Stoudemire’s expiring contract and two young pawns in Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr., who will be on the U.S. Select Team in Vegas practicing against the USA roster.
It will be a solid learning experience for Hardaway, coming off an impressive rookie season that landed him on the first team All-Rookie squad.
Nevertheless, many scouts have noticed despite his electric scoring ability on the fastbreak and from the 3-point line, he suffered noticeably on the defensive end.
The hope is Hardaway will benefit from the week in Vegas facing USA competition from the defensive end.
The tournament begins in late August in Spain, and Calderon and Prigioni should also benefit from the grind and have them prepared for training camp.
However, neither will be playing the triangle for their respective teams — something they will have learn once they report to training camp under former point guard and rookie Knicks coach Derek Fisher.
Calderon told The Post recently he was looking forward to being teammates with center Marc Gasol, who is one of the top free agents in the 2015 class when the Knicks have cap space.
Calderon said surely he wants Gasol on the team next season. They are best friends.