Canada throw down gauntlet to World Cup field with amazing squad

TORONTO (Canada) - Canada have announced a star-studded squad of players ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup that includes All-NBA First Team guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, recently crowned NBA champion Jamal Murray and New York Knicks star RJ Barrett.

A great squad, and plenty of cohesion, will be required for Canada after they were drawn into a "group of death," Group H, with France, Latvia and Lebanon. Their First Round games will be played in Jakarta, Indonesia, with a top-two finish needed to advance to the Second Round.

Gilgeous-Alexander had a spectacular season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, averaging 31.4 points and 5.5 assists per game, while Murray poured in 20.0 points in the regular season and 26.1 points per game in the playoffs as Denver captured the NBA title for the first time in club history.

Barrett, the 2017 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup MVP after leading Canada to the championship, averaged 19.6 points per game in 2022-23 - his fourth season with the Knicks - and 19.3 points per game in the playoffs.

The 18-man roster is loaded and will fuel Canada's hopes of not only reaching the podium but challenging for the title.

Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets), Oshae Brissett (Boston Celtics), Luguentz Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Minnesota Timberwolves), Cory Joseph (Golden State Warriors), Kelly Olynyk (Utah Jazz) and Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks) are other NBA players on the list.

In addition to Joseph, coach Jordi Fernandez has Melvin Ejim, Kevin Pangos, Phil Scrubb, and Thomas Scrubb - players that featured in Canada's squad at the 2019 World Cup.

Phil Scrubb (Niagara River Lions) and Thomas Scrubb (Ottawa BlackJacks) are currently competing in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), as well as Kassius Robertson (Scarborough Shooting Stars).

The Scrubb brothers played in all 12 of Canada's Americas Qualifiers games, 11 of them victories. Robertson featured in 10.

Kyle Alexander, who just played for Valencia Basket in Spain, is in the preliminary squad. He played in five of Canada's Americas Qualifiers games.

Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey, a consensus First Team All American this past season, is also on the list.

This roster is clearly the strongest ever presented by Canada. Now the fans can look forward to the preparation games to see it in action. Canada will have several exhibition games leading up to the World Cup.

They will take on Germany in a tuneup game on August 9 in Berlin before taking part in the Basketball SuperCup in Hamburg August 12-13. Canada will then travel to Spain for the Torneo Ciudad de Granada (August 17-18) to face the hosts and the Dominican Republic.