Predicting the 2028 USA Olympic Basketball Team for L.A.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Former No. 1 draft pick Paolo Banchero nearly represented Italy in FIBA play, even once saying he was ‘excited’ about playing for the country that had granted him a passport to allow him to play for its national team:

“It kept building inside me, you know, this interest for Italy and the love I’ve been feeling from the country. So I’m excited to play for Italy, representing Italy and eventually get out there”, Banchero said.

Instead, Team USA came calling and Banchero ended up playing for his native country, suiting up for the Americans at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. (The Italian basketball president called Banchero’s decision a betrayal, by the way, but that’s neither here nor there.) It’s very unlikely that was a one-off, either, as Banchero has huge upside and the team will be lacking in star-level forwards if this is to be James and Durant’s final Olympics.

Banchero, despite having a relatively mundane showing at the 2023 World Cup for Team USA, followed up a Rookie of the Year campaign in the NBA with an All-Star season in 2023-24 and looks to be on the path to superstardom.

If the former Duke Blue Devil does reach that level, that would be huge for Team USA’s chances of winning a sixth straight Olympic gold medal in L.A. 2028, as his blend of size, athleticism and skill are borderline generational.

All in all, Banchero was almost certainly brought into the program with the future in mind, a move that could pay off as soon as 2028.