Why Paul Millsap fits what the USA Basketball National Team is looking for "to a T"

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After a season where Paul Millsap appeared in the most games that the 13-year veteran has seen action in since 2016, the Nuggets’ power forward could be set for a busy summer. Millsap was one of the 20 players invited to participate in the Aug. 5-9 USA Basketball Men’s National Team training camp in Las Vegas that will be used to select the 2019 USA World Cup Team.

Following training camp, which concludes with a USA Blue versus USA White exhibition game on Aug. 9 at the T-Mobile Arena, the selected finalists will practice Aug. 13-15 in Los Angeles. Team USA’s first exhibition contest is versus Spain on Aug. 16 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The official, 12-member roster for the 2019 USA Basketball Men’s World Cup which this summer is being held in China will be announced on Aug. 17. Prior to their opening game Sep. 1 against the Czech Republic, Team USA will travel to Melbourne

Australia from Aug. 18-24 for a pair of exhibition games versus Australia as well as their final exhibition contest Aug. 26 versus Canada.

“It’s quite a group of individuals who have accomplished a great deal in their collegiate and more importantly their NBA careers,” Team USA Basketball Managing Director and Chairman Jerry Colangelo said on a conference call Monday shortly after the training camp roster was announced.

The full roster and Team USA’s coaching staff is below:

Millsap was a member of the National Team in 2009 and then again from 2014 to 2016 but has yet to play in a World Cup or Olympics game with Team USA, but that could change this summer. The 34-year-old will compete against a slew of big men that include Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Kevin Love, Myles Turner, Brook Lopez and P.J. Tucker for a roster spot.

“This group of players was picked for a variety of different reasons,” National Team head coach Gregg Popovich said. “There were different reasons for each one, some similar, but you’ll find players who are already stars, other players who have improved year in and year out, other ones who are budding stars. So with this group of 20, there are a lot of different reasons why they’re here. Each of them certainly deserves the honor to have this opportunity to try out for the team.”

But why Millsap?

The Nuggets’ bruising big man hasn’t been a fixture in Team USA’s pipeline in recent years, but he brings a set of intangibles to the court that would be valuable to the National Team this summer. Millsap along with P.J. Tucker are the oldest of the 20 players selected to attend Team USA training camp and the four-time All-Star brings big-game experience and veteran leadership that could be valuable in high-stakes tournament play. His strength inside could also aid Team USA against the physicality that they will see throughout the World Cup.

All of those factors led to Millsap’s inclusion in the group.

“First of all he’s a terrific competitor, let’s just start with that,” Colangelo said of Millsap and why he was selected. “And when you look at the need for matchups for some of the teams that we think are going to be very strong in this competition, we need veterans who know how to play, who have the size and strength and experience to compete. So he fits that description to a T and he deserves to be on this list.”

Even if Millsap doesn’t make Team USA’s final roster, the Nuggets will be well represented at the World Cup. Nikola Jokic has committed to play for Serbia, who figure to be one of the more talented teams in China along with Team USA, and Juancho Hernangomez stated his desire to play for Team Spain following the conclusion of Denver’s playoff run. When asked about his plans for the summer, Jamal Murray said he “didn’t know what his plan is yet” when it comes to playing for Team Canada.

The United States is the two-time defending FIBA World Cup champion and were drawn into Group E, along with the Czech Republic, Japan and Turkey, and since Colangelo began running the program, USA Basketball national teams have compiled an 88-1 overall record and claimed top honors in six of seven FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions. To make it three and a row Colangelo and Popovich could call on the services of Millsap, whose qualities could help bring together a team that’s largely unfamiliar with one another in a hurry.

“Who can be a good teammate? Who can feel responsible to his partner on his right or his left, who really loves the challenge, who really wants to do this?” Popovich said about what will go into selecting his team. “We have to form a unit who so to speak falls in love with each other very quickly and wants to play with each other. Those are the character sorts of things we’ll be looking for.”