Dallas Mavericks: Jalen Brunson seeing increased opportunity with Team USA

Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson is part of the USA Select Team. He is seeing an increased opportunity because of the backcourt injuries on their roster.

The Dallas Mavericks have one player representing USA Basketball this summer. Guard Jalen Brunson is the lone Mav at camp. He is part of the 14 players on the Select Team.

Team USA brought 29 men to training camp. They will only take 12 players to China for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in September. Former Maverick Harrison Barnes is a favorite to make the squad.

Brunson wears number 60 for Team USA. The 22-year-old has been working out at their training camp this week. Here are a few photos of Brunson courtesy of the Mavericks Twitter.

Brunson is seeing an increased opportunity in Las Vegas because of all the injuries to USA Basketball’s backcourt. Kyle Lowry and Marcus Smart have not been practicing. That forced them to move De’Aaron Fox up from the Select Team early in camp.

On Thursday, Brian Windhorst reported that Trae Young left Vegas because of an eye injury.

That means just Brunson and Derrick White are the two remaining lead guards on the Select roster. John Schuhmann of NBA.com reported that Brunson “seemed to be holding his own” on Aug. 7.

USA Basketball has their White vs. Blue scrimmage on Friday at 9 p.m. local time in Dallas. Jalen Brunson figures to get a few minutes in that game.

Following that, the team will begin paring down their roster as they head to California for an exhibition game next week.

Team USA arrives in Australia on Aug. 19. Marc Stein had a report on that trip on Thursday.

Brunson is not expected to be part of the roster at that point, but he may only be one or two injuries away from making that a reality. Regardless, it is a fantastic experience for the 22-year-old.

Fun fact of the day, this is not Jalen Brunson’s first time representing USA Basketball. He was a member of the 2015 FIBA under 19 World Championship team. Brunson also won a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Americas under 18 Championship.

The Smoking Cuban will keep Dallas Mavericks supporters up-to-date on Brunson’s time with USA Basketball this summer. Our site will also provide them with all the content they crave during the 2019-2020 season.