Draymond Green, Damian Lillard set to join Team USA for Olympic basketball

In pursuit of a fourth straight Olympic gold medal, Team USA is starting to fill out its roster with some big names in the NBA. 

According to a report from The Athletic, Warriors forward Draymond Green and Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard will play for Team USA in Tokyo this summer in pursuit of Olympic gold. 

This will be the second appearance on the U.S. Olympic team for Green and the first for Lillard, who opted out of consideration in 2016. 

MORE: Latest U.S. Olympic basketball roster projections

The men’s team, which is coached by Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, will likely announce the rosters later this month, The Athletic report stated, with the beginning of training camp starting July 7. The tournament will begin with the group stage going from July 25 to Aug. 1 and the knockout rounds running from Aug. 3 to Aug. 7. 

Green and Lillard are the two most prominent NBA players to commit to the team so far. Warriors guard Stephen Curry recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that he is still 50-50 on whether he joins the team, while Lakers forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis have said they will not join the team. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has said that he wants to play for the team, according to NBC Sports, but Los Angeles remains in the playoffs and that could affect whether he is able to join the team. Suns guard Devin Booker is another possible option. 

It was another standout season for Lillard, who averaged 28.8 points, 7.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. He finished seventh in the NBA MVP voting — the fifth time he’s finished in the top 10 — and was named an NBA All-Star for the sixth time in his career. 

Green wasn’t a standout offensive presence, averaging only 7.0 points, 8.9 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game, but he once again was a major defensive force, averaging 1.67 steals and 0.83 blocks while being named one of the finalists for NBA Defensive Player of the Year. 

For the 2016 Rio Olympics, Green came off the bench and averaged 9.8 minutes, 1.9 points, 1.3 assists and 2.1 rebounds in helping the U.S. win a gold medal.