2024 NBA Season

[Pamadar]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

Not the strongest but I think the decent roster to fight for gold medal but they come up short and left behind by 2 points. This is huge upset to them since fans really believe that they are the one will reach up to the finals easily but the germans cut those expectation and show up some great dedication to beat up the giants then take home the win for their country. Guess this is better luck next time for team USA and for sure next world cup they might think about sending more stronger roster and also veterans that can help their world cup run.

They've been losing grip though not just in this FIBA but years ago, just look at who is the last MVP in the last couple of years, it's all European or at least not-American, Giannis, Jokic and then Joel Embid.

And then they sent just a decent player, there are no superstars in the line up except just players of pure hype. And so I'm not surprised if team that have been playing for so many years beat the US and Canadians for that matter.

I just had a thought though; I'm thinking that the team USA might've done it in purpose though. I mean it's clear enough that their roster was just a pure hype and it's too much to ask really to think that they can reach the finals round because there are teams like Germany and Canada who are more deserving and talented than them.

Now, I'm thinking that they just sent these young star aspiring players to have some experience before they go back in reality where they are NBA players who are playing for their respective franchises and their goal is just to qualify for the Olympics where in that time, that's where they will send their best players.

That's possible, it will bring hypes again for the league, if they will send superstars in this upcoming olympics and then win the title.

But for me it's better to completely dominate the whole tournament not just the olympics, still a pride for them
and an extra boost for other countries who see that even team US can be beaten in this league, but for now,
let's give credit to Germany who fought well and advance to the finals.

[1715296843]

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[1715296843]

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[ultrloa]

A lot of talk about Christian Wood and I agree it is a good signing, but I still don’t think he starts or even replaces Rui when it comes to minutes. Rui had a great season last year and I think Christian Wood will likely get garbage minutes in comparison. I still say he’s an insurance policy in case Anthony Davis goes down.

More of a back-up Center for AD. That's his role. When Davis is on the bench, he will be the one who will sub depending on the situations.

I agree that Wood has been a great piece when he's in the Rockets many years ago, and played well there, but ever since he got traded, he became a role player, and sometimes he doesn't even play. Like what you're feeling, Rui already had a terrific season since he got traded to the Lakers. Just imagine if the Lakers' roster after the all-star is what their roster is when the season started. I doubted that they will just be at the 7th spot at the end of the season. From 13th at the start, to ended the season at 7th. I will not be surprised if this current roster of the Lakers now will be a championship contender, and as for Wood, he will be the one replacing Davis if just in case he got injured, so this might be a good thing for him to showcase his skills.

I highly doubt that he would be a backup at all. AD is a natural PF, and he has talked about how much he hates playing at the Center position not because of offense, but because at Defense he has to guard really big guys and he doesn't do that well, he is a blocker, not a post-up stopper.

This means that we could see Wood and AD playing together a lot of minutes. Obviously there will be moments when one of them is playing and the other is not, I do not think that they will be benched together and put to game together at the same times, but I do believe that the minutes they spend together will be more than they spend sitting down. Lakers do not have a proper C right now and Wood could fill that role very well.

Maybe for that statement they get a legit center with low risk since they can wave him out easily since the given contract is low if they didn't get good chemistry with Wood. For now they already have solid roster so I guess many are convince that this is a championship team already so hopefully they will not get a huge upset and exit on early rounds since this is really embarrassing knowing that they are the one create a big trades and roster changes.

[Jating]

A lot of talk about Christian Wood and I agree it is a good signing, but I still don’t think he starts or even replaces Rui when it comes to minutes. Rui had a great season last year and I think Christian Wood will likely get garbage minutes in comparison. I still say he’s an insurance policy in case Anthony Davis goes down.

More of a back-up Center for AD. That's his role. When Davis is on the bench, he will be the one who will sub depending on the situations.

I agree that Wood has been a great piece when he's in the Rockets many years ago, and played well there, but ever since he got traded, he became a role player, and sometimes he doesn't even play. Like what you're feeling, Rui already had a terrific season since he got traded to the Lakers. Just imagine if the Lakers' roster after the all-star is what their roster is when the season started. I doubted that they will just be at the 7th spot at the end of the season. From 13th at the start, to ended the season at 7th. I will not be surprised if this current roster of the Lakers now will be a championship contender, and as for Wood, he will be the one replacing Davis if just in case he got injured, so this might be a good thing for him to showcase his skills.

I highly doubt that he would be a backup at all. AD is a natural PF, and he has talked about how much he hates playing at the Center position not because of offense, but because at Defense he has to guard really big guys and he doesn't do that well, he is a blocker, not a post-up stopper.

This means that we could see Wood and AD playing together a lot of minutes. Obviously there will be moments when one of them is playing and the other is not, I do not think that they will be benched together and put to game together at the same times, but I do believe that the minutes they spend together will be more than they spend sitting down. Lakers do not have a proper C right now and Wood could fill that role very well.

Maybe for that statement they get a legit center with low risk since they can wave him out easily since the given contract is low if they didn't get good chemistry with Wood. For now they already have solid roster so I guess many are convince that this is a championship team already so hopefully they will not get a huge upset and exit on early rounds since this is really embarrassing knowing that they are the one create a big trades and roster changes.

Oh wait, they already have Jaxson Hayes right? I mean a young athletic guy that will play the center position. And with the acquisition of Wood which is also a pure center, then most likely AD will play the PF because that's how he is built, and maybe we can see more iso play for him in the block this season.

So they are pretty solid now, they have 2 big men that can play legitimate center position, and that can shoot the ball outside. We gonna see Lakers somehow dominating the paint or in the rebounding department and then start their fast break attack.

[LogitechMouse]

A lot of talk about Christian Wood and I agree it is a good signing, but I still don’t think he starts or even replaces Rui when it comes to minutes. Rui had a great season last year and I think Christian Wood will likely get garbage minutes in comparison. I still say he’s an insurance policy in case Anthony Davis goes down.

More of a back-up Center for AD. That's his role. When Davis is on the bench, he will be the one who will sub depending on the situations.

I agree that Wood has been a great piece when he's in the Rockets many years ago, and played well there, but ever since he got traded, he became a role player, and sometimes he doesn't even play. Like what you're feeling, Rui already had a terrific season since he got traded to the Lakers. Just imagine if the Lakers' roster after the all-star is what their roster is when the season started. I doubted that they will just be at the 7th spot at the end of the season. From 13th at the start, to ended the season at 7th. I will not be surprised if this current roster of the Lakers now will be a championship contender, and as for Wood, he will be the one replacing Davis if just in case he got injured, so this might be a good thing for him to showcase his skills.

I highly doubt that he would be a backup at all. AD is a natural PF, and he has talked about how much he hates playing at the Center position not because of offense, but because at Defense he has to guard really big guys and he doesn't do that well, he is a blocker, not a post-up stopper.

This means that we could see Wood and AD playing together a lot of minutes. Obviously there will be moments when one of them is playing and the other is not, I do not think that they will be benched together and put to game together at the same times, but I do believe that the minutes they spend together will be more than they spend sitting down. Lakers do not have a proper C right now and Wood could fill that role very well.

Maybe for that statement they get a legit center with low risk since they can wave him out easily since the given contract is low if they didn't get good chemistry with Wood. For now they already have solid roster so I guess many are convince that this is a championship team already so hopefully they will not get a huge upset and exit on early rounds since this is really embarrassing knowing that they are the one create a big trades and roster changes.

Oh wait, they already have Jaxson Hayes right? I mean a young athletic guy that will play the center position. And with the acquisition of Wood which is also a pure center, then most likely AD will play the PF because that's how he is built, and maybe we can see more iso play for him in the block this season.

So they are pretty solid now, they have 2 big men that can play legitimate center position, and that can shoot the ball outside. We gonna see Lakers somehow dominating the paint or in the rebounding department and then start their fast break attack.

The Lakers are very good when AD plays at the Center position, and in fact, he's the leading rebounder last season with at least 12 per game. Yes he said in one of the interviews that he's more comfortable playing with the 4 spot, but he's efficient when playing at 5 as well.

I don't know what will happen with the team now knowing that they have Hayes, and Wood. Will one of them be a starting center, and AD will play at 4? Or Davis will be convinced by Coach Darvin Ham to play again at the 5 spot alongside Rui, LBJ, Reaves, and Russell as their starting 5. I mean that would be more efficient than any other starting 5 for the Lakers out there. I can't imagine the starting 5 of the Lakers would be if Davis will play at 4. Who will be benched?

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

^^ And that's why maybe he has prone to injuries last season because he would rather play the PF position than the Center. However, Lakers doesn't have a choice that time because the is the only big man that they have, Bryant chooses to get out of the team nevertheless he wasn't even utilized by the Nuggets as they have Jokic. Bad decision for him. In any case though, Lakers looks solid already in their front line and now AD has the luxury to play Center of PF depending on the situation on the court.

[dwyane36]

The Lakers are very good when AD plays at the Center position, and in fact, he's the leading rebounder last season with at least 12 per game. Yes he said in one of the interviews that he's more comfortable playing with the 4 spot, but he's efficient when playing at 5 as well.

I don't know what will happen with the team now knowing that they have Hayes, and Wood. Will one of them be a starting center, and AD will play at 4? Or Davis will be convinced by Coach Darvin Ham to play again at the 5 spot alongside Rui, LBJ, Reaves, and Russell as their starting 5. I mean that would be more efficient than any other starting 5 for the Lakers out there. I can't imagine the starting 5 of the Lakers would be if Davis will play at 4. Who will be benched?

Coach Ham will most likely be experimenting with the starting lineup repeatedly throughout the regular season. Personally, I think it would be preferable for the Lakers if Hachimura is benched and Wood plays center in the starting lineup. In this case, the starting lineup of the Lakers could be as follows: Russell as PG, Reaves as SG, James as SF, Davis as PF, and Wood as C.

[inthelongrun]

It's just very unfortunate that it will go down again in history as the year that the US didn't win the Gold medal.

At least, we can't compare the current one to the previous World Cup when Team USA also got eliminated where the roster is mostly NBA superstars and best-of-the-best. Since Team USA announced their projective lineup before the official FIBA World Cup this year and following their lineup on their window games, I really have thought that Team USA might not make it to the Finals and I even mentioned that before.

Let's give credit to other countries that have shown improvement in this year's Cup. It doesn't mean that "it's Team USA" they are always the team to beat. Going back to the recent game between Team USA and Team Germany, the game is intense and overall, close. That's always the type of game we want to see at the most crucial stage of this tournament.

Congrats Team Germany for finally making their first appearance in the FIBA World Cup. Dirk Nowitzki is no doubt, surely happy.

The US always remains the favorite during FIBA World Cups but I am also not expecting them to win. They're young and they lack the FIBA type of experience. It was a close game against the Germans but they were never allowed to have continuous momentum. Edwards started a late rally and nearly pulled it up until he himself committed a big turnover in the dying seconds of the game. Great game and it was fun seeing the favorites lose to the underdogs. I have an ML bet on Canada to also beat the US. It should be fun and intriguing since Canada nearly has a 100% NBA roster.

It will be interesting to see if the US can also defend its gold medal in the Olympics next year. The US's most prominent basketball stars usually play only during the Olympics which is why they continue to dominate it through the years while ignoring the FIBA World Cup.

[Sanitough]

It's just very unfortunate that it will go down again in history as the year that the US didn't win the Gold medal.

At least, we can't compare the current one to the previous World Cup when Team USA also got eliminated where the roster is mostly NBA superstars and best-of-the-best. Since Team USA announced their projective lineup before the official FIBA World Cup this year and following their lineup on their window games, I really have thought that Team USA might not make it to the Finals and I even mentioned that before.

Let's give credit to other countries that have shown improvement in this year's Cup. It doesn't mean that "it's Team USA" they are always the team to beat. Going back to the recent game between Team USA and Team Germany, the game is intense and overall, close. That's always the type of game we want to see at the most crucial stage of this tournament.

Congrats Team Germany for finally making their first appearance in the FIBA World Cup. Dirk Nowitzki is no doubt, surely happy.

The US always remains the favorite during FIBA World Cups but I am also not expecting them to win. They're young and they lack the FIBA type of experience. It was a close game against the Germans but they were never allowed to have continuous momentum. Edwards started a late rally and nearly pulled it up until he himself committed a big turnover in the dying seconds of the game. Great game and it was fun seeing the favorites lose to the underdogs. I have an ML bet on Canada to also beat the US. It should be fun and intriguing since Canada nearly has a 100% NBA roster.

The hype came back when they had impressive win after losing to Lithuania. Germany has really built a great system that even the best talents in the NBA could not defeat. I say 'best talents' because the USA wouldn't send a team they thought would not win. It was just the experience that was a huge disadvantage on their part. In addition, European teams have already caught up with the fast-paced style of basketball. In the NBA, some players are dominating, namely, Luka, Jokic, and Giannis.

It will be interesting to see if the US can also defend its gold medal in the Olympics next year. The US's most prominent basketball stars usually play only during the Olympics which is why they continue to dominate it through the years while ignoring the FIBA World Cup.

I guess I'm gonna be placing my bet on the USA here.

[ChiBitCTy]

I just saw that team USA lost to Germany by two points.  Close one. I find it humorous that people actually think that the USA has lost the title for "best basketball players in the world".  Just looking through the box score ( https://www.espn.com/fiba/boxscore/_/gameId/401596632 ) you can see how team USA isn't filled with the super star players.  If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could.  I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.

[Viscore]

If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could.  I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.

Then I think they didn't value the tournament that much, as they didn't send their best players to dominate and win. Well, if we examine the roster of the team, the players are not the best or, let's say, at least not in the top 10 in terms of statistics. But there's no sense in sending players to a tournament if they themselves aren't sure they would win, unless they are underestimating their opponents?

[inthelongrun]

It's just very unfortunate that it will go down again in history as the year that the US didn't win the Gold medal.

At least, we can't compare the current one to the previous World Cup when Team USA also got eliminated where the roster is mostly NBA superstars and best-of-the-best. Since Team USA announced their projective lineup before the official FIBA World Cup this year and following their lineup on their window games, I really have thought that Team USA might not make it to the Finals and I even mentioned that before.

Let's give credit to other countries that have shown improvement in this year's Cup. It doesn't mean that "it's Team USA" they are always the team to beat. Going back to the recent game between Team USA and Team Germany, the game is intense and overall, close. That's always the type of game we want to see at the most crucial stage of this tournament.

Congrats Team Germany for finally making their first appearance in the FIBA World Cup. Dirk Nowitzki is no doubt, surely happy.

The US always remains the favorite during FIBA World Cups but I am also not expecting them to win. They're young and they lack the FIBA type of experience. It was a close game against the Germans but they were never allowed to have continuous momentum. Edwards started a late rally and nearly pulled it up until he himself committed a big turnover in the dying seconds of the game. Great game and it was fun seeing the favorites lose to the underdogs. I have an ML bet on Canada to also beat the US. It should be fun and intriguing since Canada nearly has a 100% NBA roster.

The hype came back when they had impressive win after losing to Lithuania. Germany has really built a great system that even the best talents in the NBA could not defeat. I say 'best talents' because the USA wouldn't send a team they thought would not win. It was just the experience that was a huge disadvantage on their part. In addition, European teams have already caught up with the fast-paced style of basketball. In the NBA, some players are dominating, namely, Luka, Jokic, and Giannis.

Yeah, the US bounced back strong with a huge destruction on Italy, the only team that beat Serbia. While Germany struggled against Latvia and barely escaped with a win. The FIBA experience is a big factor for this young American team. They are built for endurance since the NBA has a grueling 82 regular games in a few months span which also involves a lot of travels. Whereas in FIBA all players are conditioned for a few weeks of tournament with a 40-minute per game.

It will be interesting to see if the US can also defend its gold medal in the Olympics next year. The US's most prominent basketball stars usually play only during the Olympics which is why they continue to dominate it through the years while ignoring the FIBA World Cup.

I guess I'm gonna be placing my bet on the USA here.

The US will be very difficult to beat during the Olympics. They will be bringing to Paris their experienced and more proven superstars like Jayson Tatum, Steph Curry, and many more. But I actually feel bored if no teams are capable of giving them a close game. Maybe the Canadian team earned their experience this FIBA and will play better in Paris next year. Serbia will also have around half of their lineup from the NBA including Jokic. The French team will also play at home along with Wembayama who's used to FIBA type of basketball.

[Yamifoud]

It will be interesting to see if the US can also defend its gold medal in the Olympics next year. The US's most prominent basketball stars usually play only during the Olympics which is why they continue to dominate it through the years while ignoring the FIBA World Cup.

I guess I'm gonna be placing my bet on the USA here.

The US will be very difficult to beat during the Olympics. They will be bringing to Paris their experienced and more proven superstars like Jayson Tatum, Steph Curry, and many more. But I actually feel bored if no teams are capable of giving them a close game. Maybe the Canadian team earned their experience this FIBA and will play better in Paris next year. Serbia will also have around half of their lineup from the NBA including Jokic. The French team will also play at home along with Wembayama who's used to FIBA type of basketball.

I am expecting it will happen, though. In fact, I have seen some articles online that LeBron is also interested in playing in the Olympics. With his leadership, I think Team USA would perform better. The problem with the young Team USA that was sent to compete is that they don't have a good floor general on the court and a veteran who could help the team stay calm under pressure. They relied heavily on their talent, so they were outsmarted by Germany, who had a great floor general in the name of Schröder.

[Russlenat]

This is indeed a steal for the Lakers here, but I just hope that they should've offered him a bigger amount even if it is just a 2-year deal as they sure already do know his worth and he's not the kind of player who should they doubt first if he can be useful or not because Wood already showed his capabilities during his run with the Mavericks and Rockets where he was averaging very decently whether from the paint or beyond the arc.

Without a doubt, definitely a big steal for a big man who can shoot. What I am curious about is the agent of Christian Wood. Why did they let him sign such a small contract, there will be more teams that will surely offer him something. I am sure they are also not in a rush. Perhaps, it is Wood who wants to play with Lebron James even if he sacrifices his own 2 year salary.

I'm also thinking about that because otherwise, why would they choose this contract if in-fact they can sign another one with a different team that will likely offer them with a much bigger one. Christian Wood already showcased his talent in the league and I know that from that factor alone that he deserves more than this, which really confused me why did they took this offer.

That is why I had a thought that he just wanted to play with the Lakers and be a part of LeBron's history. We cannot really blame for that one because not all players have been offered the same.

[OgNasty]

If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could.  I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.

Then I think they didn't value the tournament that much, as they didn't send their best players to dominate and win. Well, if we examine the roster of the team, the players are not the best or, let's say, at least not in the top 10 in terms of statistics. But there's no sense in sending players to a tournament if they themselves aren't sure they would win, unless they are underestimating their opponents?

You can certainly make the case that NBA players don’t care about this tournament. Jimmy Butler came out and said as much. I’m sure the players on the floor want to win no matter what though. Sure, the NBA still has the greatest players in the world but the gap is closing and as seen here, without a handful of superstars the gap may be nonexistent.

[AbuBhakar]

If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could.  I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.

Then I think they didn't value the tournament that much, as they didn't send their best players to dominate and win. Well, if we examine the roster of the team, the players are not the best or, let's say, at least not in the top 10 in terms of statistics. But there's no sense in sending players to a tournament if they themselves aren't sure they would win, unless they are underestimating their opponents?

You can certainly make the case that NBA players don’t care about this tournament. Jimmy Butler came out and said as much. I’m sure the players on the floor want to win no matter what though. Sure, the NBA still has the greatest players in the world but the gap is closing and as seen here, without a handful of superstars the gap may be nonexistent.

Yeah, the gap of NBA among the rest of the world basketball level is very close. In fact, some the prominent NBA players came from country outside US like Giannis, Jokic and many that dominate the NBA. This is a sign that basketball globally is already catching up with the US players while their typical roster that full young NBA players might not be sufficient anymore to win a tournament in the future.

Both Canada and USA has a lot of NBA players yet they are defeated by teams with few NBA players and more on Euro basketball players.

[dezoel]

The fact that USA team lost in the Fiba, to a team that didn't had that many NBA players, definitely none that were superstars, is beyond understanding saying stuff like "if we brought in better players", well obviously if try to build the best team ever then you could have won, but so would Greece if they brought in Giannis, or Serbia may even win without Jokic, that doesn't really mean that you are doing fine.

All of the USA team players were from NBA and some of them even best players of their teams, and they still lost, that's a terrible thing and feels like maybe they are not really that much caring of the result, and didn't really play with any type of passion whereas Germany did and that's how they won.

[wheelz1200]

If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could.  I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.

Then I think they didn't value the tournament that much, as they didn't send their best players to dominate and win. Well, if we examine the roster of the team, the players are not the best or, let's say, at least not in the top 10 in terms of statistics. But there's no sense in sending players to a tournament if they themselves aren't sure they would win, unless they are underestimating their opponents?

You can certainly make the case that NBA players don’t care about this tournament. Jimmy Butler came out and said as much. I’m sure the players on the floor want to win no matter what though. Sure, the NBA still has the greatest players in the world but the gap is closing and as seen here, without a handful of superstars the gap may be nonexistent.

Some of the games top players are now not from the US.  Doncic, jokic, etc but you are right most of the top players don't want to put extra mileage on themselves, their legacy lies with how many NBA titles they've won not how many international tournaments they won.  If you go deep into the playoffs as well as these other tournaments you break down quicker.  And then there is that chance of injury as well blowing a whole season because of some other tournament. 

[danherbias07]

It's just very unfortunate that it will go down again in history as the year that the US didn't win the Gold medal.

At least, we can't compare the current one to the previous World Cup when Team USA also got eliminated where the roster is mostly NBA superstars and best-of-the-best. Since Team USA announced their projective lineup before the official FIBA World Cup this year and following their lineup on their window games, I really have thought that Team USA might not make it to the Finals and I even mentioned that before.

Let's give credit to other countries that have shown improvement in this year's Cup. It doesn't mean that "it's Team USA" they are always the team to beat. Going back to the recent game between Team USA and Team Germany, the game is intense and overall, close. That's always the type of game we want to see at the most crucial stage of this tournament.

Congrats Team Germany for finally making their first appearance in the FIBA World Cup. Dirk Nowitzki is no doubt, surely happy.

He sure is happy right now but will be more happy if they win the championship against Serbia. Oh, and this time Schroder is proving that he should be paid more because of his tenacity as a player. He or his agent made a mistake about that contract thing with the Lakers years ago but this FIBA tournament showed that is really one of the good players in the league in the guard position.
Then, there's the Wagner brothers, Despite that bad incident when Mo Wagner and Killian Hayes got into an altercation and suspended, he is also showing that he ain't just brawling but with skills too.
Oh, and Serbia too, without Nikola Jokic I thought they were stopping at the quarter-finals but surprisingly they are now playing for gold. There's so much talent on that team and I bet even the Joker is surprised and happy about what is happening to his country's team.

[OgNasty]

If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could.  I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.

Then I think they didn't value the tournament that much, as they didn't send their best players to dominate and win. Well, if we examine the roster of the team, the players are not the best or, let's say, at least not in the top 10 in terms of statistics. But there's no sense in sending players to a tournament if they themselves aren't sure they would win, unless they are underestimating their opponents?

You can certainly make the case that NBA players don’t care about this tournament. Jimmy Butler came out and said as much. I’m sure the players on the floor want to win no matter what though. Sure, the NBA still has the greatest players in the world but the gap is closing and as seen here, without a handful of superstars the gap may be nonexistent.

Some of the games top players are now not from the US.  Doncic, jokic, etc but you are right most of the top players don't want to put extra mileage on themselves, their legacy lies with how many NBA titles they've won not how many international tournaments they won.  If you go deep into the playoffs as well as these other tournaments you break down quicker.  And then there is that chance of injury as well blowing a whole season because of some other tournament. 

The other thing people don’t account for is that some of these international teams play with each other quite a bit and in some cases for many years. That makes a big difference when you’re playing against a team of guys thrown together with a few weeks to try and nail down chemistry and how their offense will be run.

[TravelMug]

If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could.  I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.

Then I think they didn't value the tournament that much, as they didn't send their best players to dominate and win. Well, if we examine the roster of the team, the players are not the best or, let's say, at least not in the top 10 in terms of statistics. But there's no sense in sending players to a tournament if they themselves aren't sure they would win, unless they are underestimating their opponents?

You can certainly make the case that NBA players don’t care about this tournament. Jimmy Butler came out and said as much. I’m sure the players on the floor want to win no matter what though. Sure, the NBA still has the greatest players in the world but the gap is closing and as seen here, without a handful of superstars the gap may be nonexistent.

Some of the games top players are now not from the US.  Doncic, jokic, etc but you are right most of the top players don't want to put extra mileage on themselves, their legacy lies with how many NBA titles they've won not how many international tournaments they won.  If you go deep into the playoffs as well as these other tournaments you break down quicker.  And then there is that chance of injury as well blowing a whole season because of some other tournament. 

European style of play and NBA style are totally different that in a world stage, the result might favor the European because of their built in chemistry and they are used to the rules of the FIBA and they have excellent ball rotation.

Unlike the US wherein it will just rely on their individual talent, same with Canada to win the game. Of course this is going to hurt the NBA players again, but next time they should force their elite players to join the team to represent their country specially in the coming Olympics because it is big when they lose this prestige basketball tournament again.