Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson has once again made the Team Canada preliminary roster for the FIBA World Cup qualifier for this summer.
The Canadians currently sit in second place in Group B with a 3-1 record, but the first round of qualifying happened during the NBA Season, so they are considered the favorites to win the group now with its stars finally available.
To advance to the next round of qualifying, Canada only needs to finish in the top three of the group, so barring an epic collapse that seems like a pretty sure deal.
Thompson couldn’t seem to stay healthy during the regular season, but during the postseason he has played a lot better. With Thompson being fully healthy just recently, suffering an injury [knock on wood] during basketball games that don’t help the Cavs at all would be a big setback for him and the team.
Some of the other notable players on Canada’s roster are Corey Joseph, Kelly Olynyk, Jamal Murray, Dwight Powell, Andrew Nicholson, Dillon Brooks, Khem Birch, and Chris Boucher.
One of the biggest and most notable names missing from the team is Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wiggins was originally expected to play for the National team but then changed course sometime after the Timberwolves were eliminated from the postseason.
“I think that definitely his initial desire was to play,” said men’s senior national team general manager Rowan Barrett on a conference call Monday via Sportsnet. “He definitely had that plan to play. I do think he had some circumstances come up that are going to limit his ability to play for us in June.”